conditions yesterday, but while Forgesson's triumph amongst the men was somewhat expected, Mason was a surprise winner in the local female category after Sandra Mewett withdrew.

"I feel absolutely delighted,'' an exhausted Mason said after finishing 63rd in 3:54:31.

Mason got news of the withdrawal of Mewett near John Smith's Bay on the second loop and said: "It did encourage me to finish. There is no way I would ever win anything with the standard of runners on the Island. I think I'll quit while I'm on top.'' Mewett decided she could not battle the elements any longer and pulled out near Devil's Hole.

Mason had set herself a target of 3:45, hoping to improve on her best time of 3:48:47 set last year. Considering she stayed in the race long after the more experienced Mewett had packed it in, Mason did not appear too disappointed about the time.

"I was hoping to do 3:45 and to be honest I could have made it if it wasn't for the conditions,'' she said. "I trained hard for it. At 23, 24 miles on North Shore, every time the wind hit me it knocked everything out of me.

"This is probably my first and last win. I'm not what you would call a speed merchant. I'm slow and steady.'' Forgesson, too, was off his personal best time (2:26 set in San Francisco last year), but that was not surprising considering the conditions, as he finished in 2:39:17 to take fifth place overall.

"Once I saw what the weather was like I set my sights to go under 2:40,'' Forgesson explained. "I felt great today, really good until 21 miles and then I had to work all the way up North Shore to Spanish Point.

"The last lap was a lot harder than the first lap. You get a bit of company on the first lap but once the half-marathon finishes it gets a bit lonely out there.'' Still, Forgesson found the conditions better than last year when it was hot and humid. "I prefer the cooler conditions,'' he said. "I don't mind the wind that much. I just decided to set my own pace. I went through the half at 1:17, which was about what I aimed to go through.'' Rod Allen was second local and Colin Swan, in his first marathon, third in 2:58:39. "I found the last part of North Shore tough,'' said Swan. "After 20 miles I had to work to hang on.

"I was running by myself most of the time but there were some cyclists encouraging me on. Anything under three hours I'm happy with that. There was a lady in front of me and I just wanted to stay with her. I wanted to stay tough.''