Chris Seeley and Fred Needham wrecked Jason Trass' day as the two veterans made their move at the cemetery in the Hatea Harriers' annual Cemetery Rd race.
The pair passed the younger athlete in the final few kilometres of the race after Trass had led from the start in the 16.4km
race - an annual warm-up event for the Kerikeri Half Marathon in two weeks time.
Kaeo-based Maria Akeson set a new race record at the event last year with a run of 64 minutes 16 seconds, before going on to win at Kerikeri in some style.
This year Seeley just edged Needham home in a tight race to finish just eight seconds ahead of his rival in a time of 69m 52s.
Trass finished third overall and first in the senior men's class in 70m 35s, showing he is still a little off the pace after recovering recently from an injury. The first woman home was Denise Limby in 78m 23s.
More than 30 runners and five walkers took part in the event, which was also attended by several cyclists from the Marsden Wheelers Club, who did two laps of the circuit.
The event's organiser, Colin Smith, took part in the shorter 6.1km race, finishing as the fastest veteran with a time of 30m 05s, ahead of Warwick Miller and Noel Young. Rebecca Chitty was the first senior woman to finish the shorter race, in a time of 36m 11s, with Stella Hourigan the first female veteran across the line.
