But as of Sunday, sitting atop all of them is a 22-year-old Melburnian whose major international achievement was coming 40^th in last year’s world cross-country championships.

Jack Rayner’s stunning time of 28:33 eclipsed all of that illustrious list plus Mark Tucker’s course record of 28:37 set in the inaugural 2007 race.

It also signalled a welcome elevation up the event podium after Rayner finished third in 2015 and second a year later.

“That means a lot because it’s my fifth time coming here, I’ve been on the podium a couple of times and I wanted to go one better and did that,” Rayner said.

“I don’t know if it’s my biggest win, but it’s definitely up there.”

All the early signs pointed towards a race record with 11 runners reaching the halfway point in under 15 minutes and Rayner already 150 metres ahead in 14:23.

He extended his lead on the return leg along the East Tamar Highway and had Cameron Street to himself as he finished 51 seconds ahead of Charlie Park (29:25) with Adrian Potter (29:29) close behind in third.

“It’s one of my favourite races, probably my favourite in Australia,” Rayner said. 

“It’s set up really well, always good weather conditions, it’s flat, fast and just a really good course.

“I love coming to Tassie with this race and the Burnie 10 and Hobart’s Run The Bridge – they’re always good races, Tassie’s great.

“If I’m in Australia I’ll be back next year, but I might be overseas.”

Ulverstone’s Doug Hamerlok was the first Tasmanian finisher, clocking 29:44 in fifth place.

The 27-year-old was delighted to break the magical 30 minutes for the first time.

“I usually focus on 1500m so stepping up to the 10km was something new and different for me,” he said.

“There was quite a Tasmanian pack running together through 5k including Pat Smith, Dejen Gebreselassie and Dylan Evans and it was good to work with them for a bit. 

“I think it’s my first time being first Tasmanian over the line and that feels good.” 

Smith, of Launceston, also made the top 10, crossing the line ninth (30:11), with Hobart’s Gebreselassie 11^th (30:18) and Beechford’s Dave Thomas 13^th (30:30). 

David Bailey, of Sandy Bay, won the 5km race while 12-year-old Tom Winkel, of Forth, added the Tasmanian under-14 5km road championship to his national age track 1500m title won in Sydney in March.

The 41-year-old mother-of-two who helped rewrite the Launceston 10 record book says she is not finished yet.

“I started running at 33 so was a late starter but I’m still young in running years so hopefully I’ve got a lot of years ahead of me yet,” said Sinead Diver after destroying the women’s race record.

Diver’s winning time of 32:01 took more than half a minute off Nikki Chappell’s 2010 benchmark of 32:33 and went 50 seconds inside her own winning time from last year.

And spare a thought for fellow Victorian Ellie Pashley who had to settle for second, just five seconds behind, in a time otherwise unsurpassed in the event’s 12-year history.

“It’s awesome, I didn’t expect that at all,” said Diver, who started running in 2010 after the birth of her eldest son and has since contested marathons at the 2015 and 2017 world championships.

“It helped that Ellie was with me the whole way so we pushed each other and she got a massive PB as well.

“You’ve just got to push to your limit and hope you get to the end.

“I think Nikki Chappell had the record before this and I wasn’t really looking at my watch much so had no idea if I was in contention or not but when I was coming in to the finish I saw the clock saying 31 something and I was trying my best to get under 32. Two seconds over is not bad.”

Melbourne-based Diver, who moved to Australia from her native Ireland 16 years ago, said she was thrilled with back-to-back Launceston 10 titles.

”This is huge for me. 

“I did not realise I would be 50 seconds better than last year. It’s similar conditions and I knew I was a bit fitter coming in but it always depends on the day and I’m absolutely delighted with that.

“I love the course because it’s flat so you can really get into a rhythm and the weather’s been perfect both times I’ve been here. 

“This is ideal for long distance racing and the event organisers make everything really easy for us all, we don’t have to worry about anything. It’s a really good event.”

Diver said her next race would be the Gold Coast half-marathon at the start of July.

Beyond Pashley came a gap of nearly two minutes to third placed Melanie Daniels, of Hobart (34:04), who claimed the first Tasmanian prize with Launceston’s Karinna Fyfe fifth (34:46).

Newstead Athletics' Isabella Davie was first home in the 2km in an impressive time of 7:24 and clubmate Abbie Butler, 13, won the women’s 5km race.

A field of 420 contested the 5km with 198 tackling the 2km and 1002 in the 10km.

Organisers said they were delighted with the entire running festival and already had several big ideas on how they could improve on it next year.