The win was his second at the event in as many years.
"It is a huge honour just to be here," Canaday said. "I loved it here last year and to come back and to pull off a win was super, super rewarding."
Canaday said the weather made the course a bit slippery in some places but on the whole it was fine to race on.
He said the only bad part of the race was a run-in with a wasp.
"I got stung by a wasp," he said. "It really hurt."
Canaday pushed on and said he picked a section of the course to make a break.
"I made a really hard move up Millar Rd [near Lake Okareka] and tried really hard to try and break away."
He said the risk paid off although his legs began to stiffen up and he was not sure if he could carry on with the same pace.
"But I managed to hold on."
He said he knew he could be a bit more aggressive during the race on Saturday after finding out it had been shortened.
Meanwhile, it was the fourth time in the six-year history of the event Armstrong, the top Kiwi finisher, has finished on the podium.
Armstrong said at one stage during the race he had to stop and walk but the local support got him through. "At one stage I thought 'I am not going to finish this race'," he said.
"But I didn't want to walk away from this race not finishing ... there was so much love and support out there." Racing began at the Redwoods Visitor Centre on Saturday morning and finished at Boyes Beach, Lake Okareka.
