Josh Harrison took more than three minutes off last year's best time at yesterday's City of Rotorua Half Marathon.
Running for a long time by himself, the Ironman World Champs entrant was almost six minutes quicker than nearest rival Julian Ng, who led home third-placed Petr Faitl by five minutes.
Sarah Joubert, running in just her second-ever race at 19 years of age, dominated the women's race in a time of 1h 30m 34s - two-and-a half minutes quicker than second-placed Melanie Thompson.
Local woman Shannon-Leigh Litt, who had completed a marathon in Blenheim the day before, came third in 1h 33m 46s.
John Caie set a course record of 35m 39s in the 10km Classic, with Chris Myland and Chris Weeks finishing in second and third, while Carly Graham won the women's race ahead of Lesley Ryan and Jessie Hakaraia in a time of 39m 59s.