It was a wonderful effort by not only the two winners, but all those who competed in testing conditions, after a heavy down poor early Sunday morning made sections of the course very difficult under foot.

Men’s champions Matt Webster said he had exceeded his expectations heading into the event, crossing the line ahead of Dani Andres (Glenbrook) in second, and Mitchell Schofield (Grafton) in third.

“I was aiming for under 2:48 and to go 2:45, I’m really happy with that time,” he said.

“I’ve been training on the course and know it well.

“At half way I was where I wanted to be, and then the last half there is a lot of down hill so I made up quite a bit of time and I was quite a bit faster than what I thought I would be.

“The weather wasn’t too bad, there was little bit of rain on the course but not too much.

“It made the sections of dirt a bit slippery but otherwise it wasn’t too bad at all.”

Webster said those runs up Mt. Misery have all been worth it after stepping up from last year’s half-marathon to take out the Mudgee Running Festival’s greatest honour, the marathon.

Yesterday’s win will give the Mudgee local huge confidence heading into his summer triathlon season, were he hopes to continue his good form.

Female champion Shannon Chapman was also very pleased with her win, as she prepares to compete in Ironman Melbourne next year.

“It was a good race and I finished strong, I was only really treating it as a training run for ironman,” she said.

“I was very happy with the time, I paced myself pretty well and managed to finish strong.

“The course was very good, although I think there could have been better traffic control in some sections, especially on the main road I didn’t always feel safe.

“It’s a lovely course though, very scenic and quite tough in sections.

“I actually came down with a cold a couple of days before so I’m very happy with how I finished given I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent.”

Mudgee Tri Club secretary Soolan Clifford said it was an excellent day for all involved.

“Considering we had some severe weather warnings, we were very lucky,” she said.

“The day ran very well and numbers are up from last year, it seems to get bigger and bigger every year.

“It was very nice to have two locals win (the marathon) as well.

“It was great to have so many sponsors come on board, even until the very last minute, it’s great to have the support of local businesses.

“We had well over 40 volunteers as well and the day couldn’t go ahead with them.”