A week after treatment for gastro and internal bleeding, Heyne completed a remarkable recovery to win in 29:03 and claim the $2000 prize.

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"I'm a student so I could win $1 and I'd be over the moon but a figure like that will fund next year's travel," said the 21-year-old who hails from Adelaide but has family in Hobart. "Last weekend I was in hospital so I had to take it easy."

Well inside his personal best of 29:39, Heyne admitted the win was unexpected.

"Those last 3ks stung a little but my coach had told me to settle in for the first 7k and then see what I could do. I set the bar so low and thought anything under 30 (minutes) would be great, but I always seem to run well when I set my expectations low."

Ellie Pashley warmed up for the Tokyo Olympic marathon by winning the women's race in 32:21 having flown to Queensland for training just before Victoria's latest shutdowns.

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"It was really lucky that I got away when I did. It's a crazy world at the moment and you just have to roll with it," said the 32-year-old, of Aireys Inlet.

"We're missing some pretty stiff competition but I'm happy with the win. I wanted to try and break 32 but my legs felt rotten in the second half of the race."

A dozen runners broke the magical 30-minute mark including Launceston's Sam Clifford who did so for the first time and also claimed the honour of first Tasmanian home in ninth.

"That's a dream come true," said the Newstead Athletics member who ran 29:33.

"It's been one of the elite barriers I've thought about to be a sub-30 runner and to do it at 19 is quite astonishing. And also just to be up there with the big boys is a good transition into seniors."

Clifford will turn his attention to state and national cross-country titles in Pontville and Adelaide before returning to the track for the Zatopek 10 in Melbourne.

Launceston's Gus Tomlinson Smith won the 5km in 15:21.

"I've never run a 5k before but they were the conditions I would have asked for," said the 22-year-old who trains with former athletics world championships representative Josh Harris.

"I knew I had potential to win but the event's really 4200m too long for me."

Isabella Piesse was crowned Tasmanian under-12 female champion in the mile. "It felt quicker because I'm used to running on the track but it was really good fun," said the 10-year-old from Hawley Beach after clocking 5:54. The race was won by 35-year-old Jade Child in 5:10.

Launceston's Rio Olympian Milly Clark emerged from the gloom to lighten up her home town running festival with a piece of Tasmanian athletics history.

On a fresh, foggy morning, the 32-year-old used knowledge gleaned from countless pre-dawn training races to complete the half-marathon in 71:09.

Although just outside her personal best, the time established new course, Tasmanian and Tasmanian all-comers' records.

"I don't want anyone to ever beat that or I will have to go and run even faster," said Clark, who was in contention to compete at the Tokyo Olympics until COVID-19 hit and had barely raced since.

"I was really nervous about where I was at and woke up this morning thinking 'I have a race today' which felt a bit odd.

"I have not had a hard race in almost a year so did not know how to judge my pace. I'm used to running these roads on my own in the dark at 5am and was in my own little world again today.

"It's a really good course and there was no wind out there so perfect conditions really. I hope this half-marathon grows in the future because it is still relatively new and this shows everyone that you can race fast here."

Clark, who finished seventh overall, hopes to carry her form into upcoming races in Darwin and the Gold Coast. "I'm looking forward to tanning these white legs," she added.

In the men's race, last year's runner-up Tom Do Canto went one better, winning in a dominant 62:38.

As expected, a three-horse race developed with young gun Riley Cocks and dual Olympian Ben St Lawrence before Do Canto broke away soon after the midway point.

The 35-year-old Sydneysider, who represented Australia at the 2018 world half-marathon championships and won the Melbourne Marathon in 2016, was delighted with the event's second fastest time.

"I'm stoked with that," he said. "I was hurting but it always feels better when you win.

"Conditions were really good and conducive to good times and it's a perfect tune-up for the full marathon on the Gold Coast in three weeks.

"This is a great event. There are not many that take care of the elite field so well. Everything is done for us so we don't have to worry about logistics, we just run, and it's a great course. It's very quick and the field is always very good so that's conducive to quick times which can be hard to get in Australia."

Hobart's Nick Earl was the first Tasmanian in fifth.

"It's good to come to beautiful Launnie for the weekend and have fun," said the 36-year-old English-born UTas climate scientist whose meteorological skills saw him called upon to deliver a pre-race weather forecast for the elite field.