Sam Dobson and Naoko Tsuchiya both played the waiting game and came through over closing stages to win the men's and women's titles at the Rotorua Marathon on Saturday.
Dobson, 29, was first across the line in the iconic event in 2:29:04, 27 seconds ahead of three times winner Phil Costley with Jono Jackson in third place, another 55 seconds back.
Making the best of the perfect conditions, a lead group of five athletes, including all the pre-race favourites, broke away right from the start and took turns at the front to go through the halfway point in 1:17:25.
Costley was the first to drop off the pace on the hills at the back of the course, but the cagey 45-year-old was simply conserving energy and got back with the leaders soon after.
Ben Ruthe was the next to fold, dropping off around the 30km mark, then Chris Sanson found the pace too tough. Dobson had enough strength at the end, edging ahead of Jackson and Costley to win in a personal best time, a good achievement on the challenging course.
