Dale Warrander had scant regard for the windy conditions in Auckland yesterday morning winning the New Zealand marathon title in 2h 17m 43s.

Warrander won by a wide margin of nearly six minutes from Mark Williams of Tauranga with Jeremy Horne of Sydney third.

Warrander from New Plymouth battled his way around Tamaki Drive to St Heliers and back, holding his form despite the conditions, to crack 2h 18m.

"I'm pretty stoked with that, it's a shame it was so windy as I am definitely in 2h 15m shape. I really didn't think I would break 2h 18m, it was a tough ask in these conditions," said Warrander.

The 33 year old fitness trainer has the Boston marathon next April lined up for a sub 2h 16m time.

After just four months back running, following surgery on an achilles tendon last December, Tracey Clissold won the women's title in 2h 50m 47s. Melanie Burke, also back from injury, was runner up for the second year in a row in 3h 1m 17s with Johanna Ottosson of Rotorua third.

"Today was an experiment to see how the injury would hold up and whether I still had a marathon in me.

"I now plan to run the Gold Coast marathon next July and go for 2h 42m," said Clissold.

Scott Winton and Mark Bowyer went neck and neck to the finish line of the half marathon, Winton getting the decision by a nose, both runners timed at 1h 8m 26s. Kirkwood, the 2004 half winner, was third.

Melissa Moon had an 'enjoyable' run to win the women's half in 1h 22m 2s.

"I had a break from all running for six weeks and only got back into it over the past two weeks.

"I needed a solid run to kick start my body again," said Moon.

Coming from Wellington Moon said that she didn't notice the wind as much as the other runners.

Moon next race will be a mountain event in Nigeria at the end of November.

Results:

Marathon

Men.-

Dale Warrander (New/Plym) 2h 17m 43s 1, Mark Williams (Tauranga) 2h 33m 25s 2, Jeremy Horne (Aust) 2h 34m 52s 3, Jacques Marceau (Akld) 2h 37m 14s 4, Brent Pulley (Rangiora) 2h 38m 10s 5, Simon Knowles (Aust) 2h 40m 6s 6, Chris Corney (Rotorua) 2h 42m 19s 7, Graham Moore (Pak) 2h 43m 8s 8, Ross McIntyre (Taupo) 2h 43m 30s 9, David Kane (Aust) 2h 46m 13s 10.

Women.-

Tracey Clissold (Akld) 2h 50m 47s 1, Melanie Burke (Akld) 3h 1m 17s 2, Johanna Ottosson (Rotorua) 3h 2m 43s 3, Ady Ngawati (Aust) 3h 3m 0s 4, Debbie Fillery (Akld) 3h 8m 31s 5, Lesley Turner Hall (Akld) 3h 10m 12s 6, Catherine Main (Akld) 3h 11m 1s 7, Sue Attwood (Hib Cst) 3h 13m 13s 8, Linley Smith (Akld) 3h 14m 57s 9, Marina Fowell (Whak) 3h 18m 26s 10.

Half marathon

Men.-

Scott Winton (Pak) 1h 8m 26s 1, Mark Bowyer (Pak) 1h 8m 26s 2, Craig Kirkwood (Tauranga) 1h 9m 4s 3, Mark McKeown (Tauranga) 1h 9m 24s 4, Nicholas Buck (Akld) 1h 11m 27s 5, Stephen Lett (Akld) 1h 12m 10s 6, Steven O'Callaghan (Rotorua) 1h 12m 26s 7, Andrew Wyatt (Papk) 1h 13m 6s 8, Adrian Bailey (Queenstown) 1h 13m 54s 9, Graham Macky (Akld) 1h 15m 50s 6.

Women.-

Melissa Moon (Wgtn) 1h 22m 2s 1, Stacey Pearson (Akld) 1h 24m 25s 2, Bridget Deverell (Cambridge) 1h 25m 20s 3, Nyla Carroll (Papk) 1h 26m 50s 4, Penny Newbigin (Akld) 1h 26m 55s 5, Melissa Norris (Akld) 1h 29m 44s 6, Lorna Mills (Howick) 1h 31m 22s 7, Michelle Watt (Hib Cst) 1h 33m 0s 8, Ingrid Herdson (Akld) 1h 33m 9s 9, Heidi-Jane Humphries (Albany) 1h 33m 30s 10.

Quarter marathon

Men.-

Wondwosen Negash (Akld) 38m 9s 1, Peter Robinson (Akld) 38m 25s 2, Andrew Williams (Akld) 39m 37s 3, Godkin Gavin (Aust) 39m 56s 4, David Rush (Oamaru) 40m 57s 5.

Women.-

Ashley Siddall (Akld) 42m 43s 1, Nicky Hyland (Akld) 45m 25s 2, Aimee Schicker (Akld) 45m 30s 3, Catriona McCorkell (Ryde) 45m 36s 4, Katie Johnson (Akld) 46m 40s 5.