A change of course could stop a rampant Egmont Athletics men's team from claiming back-to-back titles at Wanganui's annual Anzac Day relays.
The shift to Scoutlands at Lake Wiritoa meant a return to true cross-country conditions - conditions that the New Plymouth club relished in the 4 x 2km event.
Led out by the impressive Matt Baxter, they were soon in a position of a dictating the terms of the race. Having competed for New Zealand at international meetings, Baxter continues to impress and his 6m 07s for the tricky 2km course was the fastest on the day.
The New Plymouth Boys High School student has also had to contend with a bout of glandular fever but that seems to be behind him, and Baxter took his Egmont team through the first changeover with a handy 25-second lead over Palmerston North's Chris Sanson with Wanganui High School's Sam Hopper another 15s back.
The lead was stretched out to 33s by the end of the second leg, with Egmont's Luke McCallum putting in a good stint ahead of Palmerston North's Liam Woolford. These two teams were now well clear of Wanganui High and host club Wanganui Harriers in the 16-strong lineup.
Palmerston North's Andrew Davenport dragged the gap back to 14s after a rapid third leg, but Egmont were not to be denied, with Rhys Bishop skipping clear of David Lovelock to cross the finish line for a team time of 26m04s.
Palmerston North were second in 26m 32s and the battle for third saw Wanganui Harriers Rob Conder not quite able to bridge the gap to High School's Mark Cornaga with the students finishing in 28m 38s.
The women's event drew one of the weaker fields in recent years with only seven teams lining up.
Defending champions Wanganui Collegiate were absent while some of the other club sides were not as strong as in the past, and this opened the way for Palmerston North to dominate proceedings, which has often been the case over the years.
Lead runner Claire Adkin set the pace with a 7m 43s first section to just shade Egmont's Emma Bowie's 7m 51s. Adkin's time would eventually prove to be the fastest time on the day.
Egmont were unable to back up the impressive start and that allowed the second Palmerston North team to step up as Diana Solis put pressure on her A team contender Georgie Miller-Therenard.
Stephanie Dickins consolidated their lead in the third leg, with the well-performed Samantha Blanche rounding out the PN effort with a tidy 7m 45s leg.
The combined time of 31m44s for Palmerston North A had them 1m 48s clear of their B team at the finish, with Egmont third.
In other events, Egmont's Mike Morrissey and Katie Morrissey-Tahere won the two-person walk relay, Hawera's Jack Elliott the under-12 event and Feilding Moa athlete Hael Prichard the under-9 1km.