The pair peeled off kilometres in around three minutes and 30 seconds before ramping it up to three minutes 20 for the final two.
Young said he managed to get a gap in the last kilometre and it was enough to hold Keating off for line honours. "It didn't quite come to a sprint."
Keating crossed the line seven seconds later in a time of 1h 13m 34s. Linford was third in 1h 18m 07s.
Young said sharing the lead made him a bit fresher.
"We were a bit lucky with the weather, last year it was quite windy."
He said a combination of factors contributed to his win, including more consistent training this year and staying injury free.
It was his first victory in the event, in his fourth attempt, and eight minutes faster than he ran last year when he finished second.
"It was a pretty good feeling to get a win."
He said he was happy to get a PB as well, which was a bonus. His time was about 40s quicker than his previous best, run in Kerikeri last year.
The results see Young move above Linford on the NorthCloud Leaderboard for the 2018 Sport Northland Run/Walk Series, with one event, the Kerikeri Half Marathon on November 17, to go.
In an all-Whangārei women's podium, last year's winner Ady McKenzie defended her title, winning in 1h 28m 32s. Caris Teo improved her placing from last year by one to come second in 1h 28m 52s. Jemma Petty was third in 1h 37m 26s.
Maria Ackerson already has the top spot on the series leaderboard secured going into the Kerikeri event.
In the 9km event, Dennis Langford won the men's division and Simone Ackermann took line honours in the women's section.
Whangārei's Langford finished in 40m 05s ahead of Kaitaia's Michael Amon in 41m 58s and Whangārei's Robby van Dijk in 42m 16s.
Whangārei's Ackermann beat two other Whangārei runners for the top spot with a time of 41m 52s. Second was Ruth Hutchinson in 43m 50s and Debbie Monaghan in 45m 01s.
In the newly added 4km event, 11-year-old Elise Pickford stormed to victory in 19m 22s, followed by Che Nicholson in 19m 58s and Hagen Robinson in 20m 04s.
