Great Britain mountain-running international Robbie Simpson (Deeside) made it look easy as he cruised to victory in the Clachnaben hill race.
The Inverness half marathon champion completed the testing nine-mile route, which includes 2,460ft of climbing on Clachnaben and Mount Shade, in 1hr 5min 31sec.
It was his third win in five years but he was outside the course record of 1:02:43 set by Joe Symonds (Hunters Bog Trotters) in 2012.
Simpson was never put under any pressure, however, as runner-up, Aberdeen-based Ewan McCarthy, was well behind in 1:10:04, while Brian Bonnyman (Westerlands) picked up the over-40s prize when finishing third in 1:11:14.
Simpson said: “I took it easy in the early stages then put a bit more effort in later on. I enjoyed it as it was good to get back on to the hills after doing a few road races in recent weeks.
“I certainly ran faster than the last time I was here two years ago when I was third behind Joe Symonds and Chris Smith.
“It felt good and it was useful to gauge how things are going over rougher terrain as I’ll be getting more involved with hill races over the next couple of months as I build up towards the European mountain-running trials in June.”
Dan Whitehead (Deeside), the 2003 winner, was third in the over-40 division, seventh overall, in 1:15:58, 21sec ahead of his clubmate Alan Smith, who won the over-50s prize.
Simpson, Whitehead and Smith combined to give Deeside Runners the men’s team prize.
Aberdeenshire athlete Rachel Armitage lifted the women’s prize 20 years after her mum, Sonia, scored the first of her three victories in this event.
The Edinburgh University medical student, who won the Monymusk multi-terrain half marathon last October, finished 21st overall from a field of 100 competitors in 1:22:39.
Lumphanan 10km champion Steph Provan (Deeside), who engaged in a cat-and-mouse race with Armitage until the closing stages of the contest, finished second in 1:23:43.
Armitage, 21, said: “It was an enjoyable race although I wasn’t so good on some of the more technical downhill parts of the course. Apart from the Monymusk half marathon, this is the longest race I have done.”
Mum Sonia was also among the prizes on Saturday, winning the over-50s award when posting a time of 1:34:15.
Aberdeen’s Ciara Largey led Cosmic Hillbashers to the women’s team prize when she finished third in 1:26:54. The other scorers for the winning side were Veronique Oldham, the 2011 winner, who finished fifth in 1:30:00 and Sonia Armitage.
Fourteen-times Moray marathon winner Kate Jenkins (Carnethy) was first over-40 in 1:27:53.