Martin Dent made it three Kepler Challenge titles in as many years on Saturday.
The 36-year-old Australian won the 60km race near Te Anau in 4hr 49min 36sec, comfortably clear of fellow Australian David Byrne, who crossed the line in 5hr 1min 47sec.
Dent, a former Olympic and Commonwealth Games marathon runner, was content to sit behind Byrne for the first 8km, before taking the lead and not relinquishing it.
Byrne, one of 66 runners from overseas, is a former Australian cross-country representative and was making his first appearance in the race.
Dent's winning time was almost two minutes quicker than his winning time a year ago, but was well short of the course record he set two years ago of 4hr 33min 37sec.
Dominic Channon, who finished fourth in 5hr 6min 2sec, was the first Otago runner across the line.
Dunedin's Stafford Thompson was fifth in 5hr 7min 18sec.
In the women's race, Napier's Ruby Muir made it four consecutive titles when she crossed the line in 5hr 37min 23sec.
She fended off a stiff challenge from course record-holder Zelah Morrall, who was running the event for the first time in 12 years.
Morrall, a 45-year-old Englishwoman, crossed the line in 5hr 38min 12sec to claim second place.
She set the course record (5hr 23min 34sec) in 2003, a year after she first won the event. Becky Nixon, of Queenstown, was the first Otago runner to finish (7hr 16min 30sec).
Christchurch's Tane Cambridge won the 27km Luxmore Grunt in 1hr 56min 26sec.
He had been hoping to break Phil Costley's 2008 course record (1hr 52min 30sec), but blustery conditions did not do him any favours.
Kristian Day, who recently married Muir, finished second in 2hr 1min 54sec, while Wanaka's Grant Guise was third (2hr 6min 16sec).
Nelson's Lizzie Wesley-Smith won the women's race in 2hr 18min 24sec, while Dunedin's Shireen Crumpton was second in 2hr 21min 36sec.
Crumpton still owns the women's Luxmore Grunt record of 2hr 4min 18sec, set in 1998.
