Flat out Launceston doctor Karinna Fyfe finally climbed straight to the top in back-to-back Point to Pinnacle wins - seven years apart.
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"I had not done Point to Pinnacle for a few years at least and I did win it the last time I did in 2012," Fyfe said.
"I did secretly want to do equally as well. But obviously a lot of time has passed so I didn't know I would."
A Launceston 10 regular until it was postponed this year, the Hobart race from Wrest Point Casino to the top of Mt Wellington has not been on the agenda.
But lying in the back of the mind, Fyfe wanted to tackle the challenge one more time.
"I often have been injured at the wrong time of the year to come back or it's clashed with a few other races so it just never quite fitted into the schedule properly," she said.
"It was really good to be able to do it again this year."
Fyfe's time of 1:16:31 was somewhat incomparable to the 2011 race victory with the changes to the course.
Not for the first time, organisers were forced to rule out a mountain-top finish after ice, snow and strong winds threatened to jeopardise the safety of runners.
That change to the route had Fyfe crossing a more low key line at the Longley Hotel.
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
"The change of course I think definitely made it a less challenging race," she said.
"Psychologically, it's harder to prepare for because we didn't know what to expect.
"Physically, that second 10K uphill is definitely the hardest part of the race and we didn't have to do that."
Fyfe broke away early from female contenders. But the challenge came in late from American Katie Conlon in her second Point to Pinnacle.
Conlon, whose husband Ben St Lawrence was the first across the line, finished just 25 seconds behind Fyfe.
"Probably about halfway up the hill I thought I had it won," Fyfe said.
"But then the woman who came second, Katie Conlon, was catching me quite quickly on the downhill. So I think if it was too much longer, she would have got me."
Described as the world's toughest half-marathon for the course's incline, the doctor laughed off suggestions inside knowledge of the body gives her an advantage.
"I am not sure being a doctor helps me all that much really to be honest," Fyfe said.
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