Christchurch's Rowan Hooper and Australian Sandra Prosenica provided big surprises in the elite races in the Christchurch marathon yesterday.
Hooper came through in the final few kilometres for his first major win over the 42.2km distance.
He had been one of a handful of runners expected to fillthe minor placings behind standout Australian David Ruschena.
Ruschena, the current Australian half-marathon champion, set the early pace with Hooper and defending Craig Kirkwood, of Tauranga.
The trio went through halfway in one hour 10 minutes and Ruschena started applying pressure soon after.
By 30km he was comfortably clear and looked the likely winner before the 34-year-old began to struggle in his debut marathon.
Hooper clawed his way back and passed the Australian at the 38km mark before finishing with a lead of 39 seconds.
"I really thought he was gone," Hooper said of Ruschena. "He surged away pretty strongly but then after a while I started picking him up and I started getting excited. When I passed him I got a new lease of life and the last few kilometres were great."
Hooper stopped the clock in a personal best time of 2hr 21min 41sec.
Another Australian, Paul Martinico, was third in 2hr 24min 10sec.
The women's race followed a similar pattern, but this time an Australian managed to have the last word when Prosenica came from behind to score a surprise win.
Prosenica, 42, sat behind the fast early pace of Auckland favourite Lesley Turner-Hall and then moved up after 30km.
These two traded the lead for a few kilometres before Prosenica went it alone, powering away as Turner-Hall wilted to eventually finish 12th.
Prosenica was full of running as she crossed the line in a personal best time of 2hr 57min 37sec.
Wellington's Sally Anderson was second in 2hr 59min 57sec, with Dunedin's Sue Cuthbert third, more than 4min back.
