Ian Calder breezed around the undulating 10km circuit, at the head of a record field of more than 530, in Hatea Harriers' Round the Mountain fun run and walk.
Calder crossed the finish line in 37min 9sec, with Matt Andrew from Hatea Harriers 41sec behind in second place and Dylan French
a further minute back in third.
Janice Powell pulled off the surprise of the day, taking first place among the women in 45min 43sec, comfortably clear of the second-placed Denise Limby.
Powell was delighted to be first woman home and enjoyed the run.
"The terrain was lumpy but the views were pretty and varied," she said.
Alan Connelly led the walkers from the start and continued to increase his lead throughout, finishing at a fast clip, ahead of many of the runners.
Pauline Dinsdale - the event's main sponsor - had a busy morning, completing the run with ease before dashing home to freshen-up and returning for the prizegiving.
Despite ominous black clouds before the start and some scattered showers during the run, Dinsdale found the course to her liking.
"It was challenging with a few little undulating hills along the way but the weather was kind to us and it was actually really pleasant running conditions," she said.
Round the Mountain manager Colin Smith was thrilled with the increase in entries for the event. With numbers up more than 100 on last year, he thought the weather might have helped.
"True runners and walkers appreciate this sort of weather, even if there was a bit of wind," he said.
