James Hansen becomes first Tasmanian to win Launceston 10

The 28-year-old described the home-town win as "a dream come true", finishing in a time of 28:49, 15 seconds ahead of Kieren Perkins and Riley Cocks.

A year ago, Hansen battled serious health issues, which flipped his life upside-down and left him questioning his future in the sport.

"Last year I rocked up here and I was in a commentating booth because about a week earlier I found out I had a massive blood clot at the top of my brain," he said.

"My right arm didn't work for a couple of weeks and I didn't know if I'd ever run again.

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"Launnie 10 is something that you grow up with, it's the biggest race there is and I'm still in shock.

"I kept that belief through all of this and to come out and do it after all I've been through in the past few years, it's just massive for me."

Moving to Melbourne at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the former Riverside Primary and High School student suffered a serious stress fracture and struggled with not being able to return to Tasmania.

He got back into running, before the blood clot and a small stroke set him back again.

Now, he's back living in Tasmania having won one of the country's premier road races on home soil, taking control of the race and breaking away at the 7km mark.

"It's just been years of knowing that I had this in me but I had to start from scratch three or four times," he said.

"I came here today and I visioned it in my head but I still don't really believe it because I've never been a 10km runner.

"It's very, very special to do it in front of Launnie and show that people of Launceston can be the best in Australia."

There was another first-time winner in the women's race as Jessica Stenson broke the course record in 31:50.

The 34-year-old dual Olympian, who is set to represent Australia in the marathon at the Commonwealth Games, finished ahead of Leanne Pompeani and 2015 race winner Eloise Wellings.

Despite only having a four-week training block due to injury, the South Australian's time was a personal best on both track and road.

"I've been working hard and I just really hoped it would all come together and result in a PB for me today," Stenson said.

"I was a bit nervous because I knew this was the day for it, we had a fast course, a really strong group of girls and honestly, I'm really happy.

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"I'd been hitting the odd split that would suggest [I would run a PB] but I hadn't banked up enough weeks to be really confident.

"I just went in open-minded and thought 'it's going to hurt at the beginning because I'm not quite used to the fast pace but I've just got to put myself in there and see what happens'."

Stenson's new course record, which was eight seconds faster than Sinead Diver's 2018 mark, wasn't far away from the fastest 10km time in Tasmania.

Kylie Risk's Burnie 10 time of 31:42 in 1999 still stands and as close as Stenson got, she doesn't think she could have pipped it.

"Because the headwind was on the way out and the tail was home, I don't think I could've given any more on the way home, we were just sort of making the most of the boost," she said.

"I think that was all I had today but I didn't really know any of the numbers and what the course record was so that's a bit of a bonus."

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