About 500 runners competed in five distances ranging from five to 100 kilometres in the second staging of an event which has swiftly become a popular fixture on the Tasmanian running calendar.

Stephen Matthews claimed the marathon title in just his second attempt at the 42.19km distance but the Launceston Christian School teacher said he had no plans to jump ship from his regular sport of mountain biking.

“I’m absolutely spent,” said the 25-year-old who was among the home-state competitors when the Enduro World Series visited Derby last year and whose brother Jed had tackled the 100km run.

“I normally do more on the bike but wanted to give running a crack. I did Ross but went a bit too hard early, but this was perfect.

The event also witnessed a return to competition for another Launceston teacher, Josh Harris, 14 months after injuring himself at the athletics world championships in London.