The focus on pre-race entries and the ease of online application brought another good crowd for the 2016 edition of the Pak'n Save Whanganui 3 Bridges Marathon to Taupo Quay on Saturday.
First-time organiser Christian Conder was confident they had cracked over 500 entries to match up with last year'sevent, which for the first time did not have a "walk-up" on the day, instead requiring all competitors to be signed up by midday Friday.
The course was the traditional 10.5km length for a lap along Somme Parade, across the Dublin St bridge and down along Anzac Parade to City Bridge, which was traversed back and forth to Putiki Drive, before crossing the Cobham Bridge and heading back along the riverside to Somme Parade.
With four laps to do, the standard prediction is about three hours from the 7.30am start for the full marathon, but Rotorua's ultramarathon veteran Brendon Keenan clicked in well under that mark at nearly 2h 55m, which was a good 20 minutes before a fellow competitor with a yellow bib number joined him.
"My personal best is 2h 48m, but that was in New Plymouth on a downhill circuit," said Keenan.
It was his fourth marathon of the year after New Plymouth, Rotorua and Auckland, with Keenan's coach advising him at the start of the year to keep Whanganui in mind as the perfect event to finish his season.
"It's my first time here. It's a lovely course, very scenic, and no hills.
"Most courses I've done have involved some hills."
Knowing he could therefore expend a little more energy early on, Keenan went around a kilometre every four minutes, before slowing down on the final leg.
He only really saw glimpses of the other full marathon competitors amongst the throngs doing the other distances.
"Someone did shoot out quick at the start, but most of the time I was just running out....at my own pace.
"Definitely I'll be back this time next year."
The start of the 5km length run on Taupo Quay.
Having the earliest start were the full marathon walkers at 6.30am, so Taranaki Race Walker's member Harry Terwiel was glad he decided to come down the night before, unlike some clubmates who were on the road at 5am to make the startline.
It was either his third or fourth Whanganui marathon and the morning humidity added to the challenge.
"You are kind of fighting the wind one way, then fighting the heat when you're going with it."
Terwiel opted not to stay with any fellow walkers for any length of time.
"No friends on the race course. You're friends afterwards.
"I enjoy this course, the online entries [this year] was easier. It's nice."
Flying the flag for the locals was Tom Francis, who won the two-lap half marathon event.
"Pretty humid, bit of a wind out there. Pretty hard actually...at the bottom of the course," he said while getting a well earned drink.
Francis, who has done the full marathon at Rotorua but quite content to stay in his wheelhouse for the home race, got a gap on the field early and held it.
"It was poorly executed, really, I should have gone a big slower at the start."
