5861 participants from 12 countries lined up outside the Christchurch Town Hall this morning. Light rain was falling with temperature around 11 degrees, but crucially there was not a hint of wind.

The feature Full Marathon passed through the 15k mark with favourites Matt Smith (ChCh) and Jason Woolhouse (Melbourne) 1min ahead of Luke Hurring (ChCh), Matt Dravitzki (Wgtn) and Ethiopia's Wondwosen Geleta. Through Hagley Park at 19k Smith put some mild pressure on Woolhouse, who was forced to let go and by halfway 69min 22secs Smith has a 15sec lead, with Hurring, Dravitzki and Geleta 80secs back. But Smith, a former English rep who is now a NZ citizen, was too strong. In the cold conditions Woolhouse would fail to finish, but Smith actually ran the second half faster to win in 2hrs 18min 14secs. This made him a rare dual winner following his half marathon win in 2008. 

In the women's full marathon Australian Magda Karimali-Poulos led from start to finish. Early on Rotorua's Sara Biss tracked the classy Australian, who won both the Melbourne and Canberra marathons in 2009, but at halfway she was 58secs ahead. In increasingly cold conditions Poulos slowed, but the women chasing her slowed even more eventually won by almost seven minutes in 2hrs 46min 32secs. Behind her Sara Biss ran herself to collapse at the finish line in 2hrs 53min 29secs, while Wellington veteran Suzi Richards claimed third and first veteran in 2hrs 55min 07secs.

Australia's Erwin McRae won the SBS Half Marathon in a personal best time of 64min 59secs. The Canberra primary school teacher ran in a large bunch of contenders until the 14k mark that included defending champion Scott Westcott and fellow Aussie Ben Toomey, as well as Kiwi standouts Dale Warrander (Gold Coast), Dougal Thorburn (Dun) and Cantabrians Phil Costley, Mark Bailey and Rowan Hooper. McRae went to the front along Cambridge Terrace and slowly turned the screws until no one could stay with him. He eventually won comfortably by 34secs, with Ben Toomey claiming second in his first half marathon. Behind them Christchurch veteran Phil Costley came from sixth place with 5k to go to claim third in 66min 01secs, which broke the veterans course record set by the legendary Eddie Gray in 1985. Scott Westcott followed in fourth, with Thorburn, Rowan Hooper, Mark Bailey, Dale Warrander and Christchurch veterans Carsten Jorgensen and Kerry Fass rounding out the top 10.

The women's half marathon started in superfast fashion with Australian Commonwealth Games rep Lisa Flint leading the field through the 1k mark in 3min. Dunedin's Shireen Crumpton sat back in fourth place early on but by 10k had moved through the field in chase of Flint. Crumpton knows this course better than anyone, having won both the half marathon and full marathon in recent years. The 37 year old nurse used her experience to good effect, hitting the lead at 15k and eventually winning 45secs clear of Flint in 1hr 16min 09secs. Aussies took the next two pdoium spots, with Flint and Tasmanian native Hanny Allston third in 1hr 18min 39secs. Behind her a handful of Kiwi women recorded personal best times with Kelly Palmer (ChCh, 1:19:02), Sarah Chisnell (Dun, 1:19:11) and Victoria Beck (Dun, 1:19:54) all breaking 1:20. Christchurch teenager Nicki McFadzien was impressive in 7th (1:21:52), followed by Shayna Innes (ChCh) and Garbitashri Webster (Akld) and the ageless supervet Bernie Portenski (Wgtn), who at age 60 finished 10th overall and set a new world record for women 60-64 years of 1hr 24min 56secs.

In the 10k event Auckland's Sam Dobson was a comfortable winner, clocking 30min 51secs to finish 37secs clear of Christchurch runners Alex Fowler & Matt Ingram. Among women Dunedin's Rachel Kingsford won for the second year in a row with a new course record of 34min 36secs, finishing 48secs ahead of Aucklanders Penny Peskett and Michelle Hopkins.