Winner of the Northburn 100 50km race, Laurie Harding, of Wanaka, said his victory was "ridiculous".
"I thought I misheard it. It's such a shock ... I can't quite believe it."
The 50km race was part of the Northburn 100 Ultra Mountain Run, an extreme running event held at Northburn Station, near Cromwell, over the weekend.
The three major races - the 50km, 100km and 100miler - are known by runners all around the globe.
It was Harding's first 50km race.
The race started at 6am on Saturday and Harding finished the race with a time of 6hr 25min, coming in just before 12.30pm.
The race took competitors all through Northburn Station, 6km north of Cromwell.
Harding described the race as"beautiful but brutal".
"I guess the reputation of it being brutal has a certain appeal.
"This has the typical rocky, open Central Otago wilderness to it with the wild thyme.
"It's like another world up there, it's so stunning ... Those clear, crystal streams, that crazy, lumpy sort of vegetation - it's like a moonscape."
Although the early morning start was a bit cold.
"There was ice on the edge of the streams up the top.
"Just a thick blanket of frost and a fog and you're trying to pick the white markers out of white frost and white fog."
Thirty-seven people competed in the 50km race.
It took about 24 hours for the winners of the 100miler to finish - they are given 48 hours and do not sleep.
Race director Terry Davis said it was near freezing at 6am on Saturday when the race started but he was thankful for the"great weather" and that it was"dead calm".
He said a variety of international runners competed, including from France, the Philippines and Japan.
He said many did not realise how tough it was and were shocked at the end.
"I make a big deal at the briefing about how it's the toughest emotional thing ever and people laugh but at the end people say it really is the most horrible thing.
"There's a feeling of accomplishment - four days later!"
Glenn Sutton, of Dunedin, won the 100miler with a time of 24hr 35min, beating 66 others, and Yuta Suda, of Japan, won the 100km with a time of 14hr 41min, beating 14 others.
Shannon-Leigh Walker, of Auckland, was the top woman in the 100km, with a time of 17hr 8min, and Veronkia Palockova, of Queenstown, was the top woman in the 50km, with a time of 7hr.
At the time of print, the first female in the 100miler was yet to finish.
