A tendon injury around the ankle had hindered Parsonage's training.
"I hadn't done the amount of training I would have liked to have done. My best [time] is at Rotorua, I did 2hr 37m [in 2013], but 2hr 40m was as good as I could have hoped for. I wanted to do something under 2hr 45m and 2hr 40m was the best possible goal that I could have tried for."
Parsonage will now, having recently bought a mountain bike, branch out and has entered the duathlon at the 3D multisport festival in early June.
Fellow Lake City Athletic Club member Adrian Lysaght finished eighth in 2hr 45m 04s and clubmate Brendon Keenan was 14th in 2hr 51m 57s, giving Lake City the men's club title it last won in 2014.
"It's pleasing to be part of that. It's the first time since 2014 so it's good to get it back," said Parsonage, who was part of the club's winning team in 2013 and 2014.
Lysaght's name is now on the winning men's team trophy eight times now. He said that, along with his top 10 finish, were the highlights of the race.
"I'm happy with that - I wanted to contribute to that," he said.
"My time was okay. It wasn't quite as fast as I wanted and I got second [in the 40-44 age division]. I just couldn't catch the guy in front of me. I had been catching him during the race, but he was just a bit stronger than me at the end and pulled away."
That "guy" was Auckland's Sam Corbett, 38 seconds ahead of Lysaght, who will now concentrate on road running and cross country before heading to Rarotonga for its road racing championships in September - a trip that will also be a celebration of his wife Jeanene's 40th birthday.
Keenan set a personal best time for the Rotorua marathon, and was fourth in the 40-44
age division.
"I have done a 2hr 48m before, but this was the best for Rotorua. Rotorua's a bit harder than some marathons. It was great conditions, but those hills all add up at the end of the day."
A seasoned ultra distance runner, Keenan ran a negative split on Saturday.
"I always tend to finish [marathons] strong. I had a controlled first half, then came in a lot stronger. It would have been nice to get into third spot in the age division, but there were a couple of good people in there - Adrian was one of them - and over all I was pleased with the day and it was just a real bonus to see Adrian and Matt there [at the finish line], looking at the other clubs' colours around and knowing at that stage that we had probably picked up the team trophy."
Next for Keenan is the marathon nationals in Wellington in six weeks. There was double success for the Lake City Club with the women's team, Johanna Ottosson securing second in 2hr 55m 54s, Clare Barratt-Wood, 26th, in 3hr 43m 44s, and Sian Twiddy, 28th, in 3hr 44m 16s.
Ottosson was disappointed not to win the event.
"There are so many factors in a marathon," she said. "My mind was wandering off in different directions and there was a lot of pain, but I'm glad I managed to hold it together and I didn't fall apart as much as I thought I possibly would do in the last 10km."
Barratt-Wood went one better than last year, finishing as second Lake City runner.
"It's a great honour to be part of the team and win it for the second year in the row, and great that the men and the women took out the trophy and Johanna was a very big help in that," she said.
"There were a lot of people from Lake City doing the marathon for the first time. There was a really a nice feeling within the club and everyone is very supportive of each other. It's an awesome club to be part of."
Targeting 3hr 30m, Barratt-Wood said by the Whakatane turn-off she knew that wasn't going happen.
"But I was still five minutes quicker than last year,and I definitely learned a lot about mental toughness, so I was happy to finish and hopefully I'll be back next year to beat that 3hr 30m goal."
