It was third time lucky for former Dunedin policewoman Mel Aitken, who won the Queenstown International Marathon on Saturday.
The 30-year-old, a runner-up in the race's first two editions, finished in a time of 3 hours and 48 seconds, more than two minutes ahead of Texas-based New Zealander Liza Hunter-Galvan (3h 02min 52s) and 15 minutes quicker than Sasha Antunovic, of Taranaki (3h 15min 53s).
In the men's race, Irishman Donal Sheehy won in his first attempt at the distance. The 36-year-old, who hails from Dublin but has lived in Auckland for the past four years, won in a time of 2h 39min 39s.
That was about six minutes quicker than runner-up and five-time Coast to Coast winner Richard Ussher, of Nelson, (2h 45min 43s) and nearly eight minutes in front of Queenstowner Simon Green (2h 47min 10s)
In the half marathon, the men's winner was Jason Hall, of Queenstown, in 1h 12min 22s, while Hannah Wells, of Te Puke, won the women's race in 1h 28min 59s.
A record 9500 runners took part in the third running of the race.
