First held in 1902, the event is the oldest road race in the southern hemisphere, and for the first time was held in association with the New Zealand Masters Games and continued the battle for bragging rights between Jason Palmer (Leith) and Jonah Smith (Caversham).
The duo made short work of breaking away from the field on the hill from Port Chalmers to Sawyers Bay.
They remained inseparable throughout the 12km journey until Smith got the better of Palmer in a sprint finish up Butts Rd, collapsing across the finish line in 43min 2sec, with Palmer crossing just 2 seconds later.
The pair have had some titanic battles in recent months, with honours currently shared.
Third home was Neale McLanachan (Leith), in 47min 2sec.
Shireen Crumpton (Hill City-University) dominated the women's section, crossing in fifth place overall to clock a time of 51min 15sec.
A four-way battle royal took place for the minor places in the women's section, with 2010 open champion in the event Kerry Rowley second in 59min 1sec and Julie Edmunds third in 59min 16sec.
The sealed handicap released after the race saw Neville Scott (Caversham) win the trophy for men from a handicap of 32min, with Palmer second and Ken Fahey (Caversham third.
Edmunds, with a handicap of 30min, won the women's sealed handicap from Emma Sutherland (Ariki) second and Crumpton third.
Dunedin's Wayne Porteous won the associated 10km walk section in 1hr 1min 52sec. Yvonne Watson (Blenheim) won the women's walk in 1hr 6min 15sec.
● Otago's Caden Shields (27) finished second in the national 10,000m championships in Auckland on Saturday.
Shields clocked 30min 46.13sec to win the silver medal, but could not keep up with Waikato's Aaron Pulford, who came home in 30min 9.02sec.
Shields' time was significantly faster than his gold medal winning time (31min 32.85sec) three years ago.
