Louis Padilla edged out Mohammed Idris by the narrowest of margins to lift the title in the Bahrain Cross Island race.
The athlete are pictured above shortly before the event which was organised by the Bahrain Road Runners under the umbrella of the Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA).
American Padilla and Indian Idris clocked one hour eight minutes and seven seconds but the American was ahead by just a fraction at the tape to clinch the race.
Nearly half-a-minute behind in third place was Bahraini Redha Hussain (1:08:36), while Mohammed Ali (1:14:11) was fourth, Mohammed Javid (1:18:34) finished fifth and Abdulla Ismael (1:20:10) took sixth place.
Ruth Tucker was the fastest woman as she finished 14th overall in 1:25:08. Behind her was Jane Eaton in 1:31:48 and Michelle Ajaji finished third in 1:39:21.
The various category winners were: Khalid Turki (M40, 1:25:03), Javid (M45), Ghanim Al Zallaqi (M50, 1:26:12), Mohsin Al Sharif (M55, 1:25:23) and Fouad Saliba (M60, 1:48:58). BAA president Shaikh Talal bin Mohammed Al Khalifa presented the trophies to the winners.
Fifty-six athletes took part in the challenging cross country and only two failed to cross the finishing line.
The race started from Al-Dour water desalination plant on the east coast and run across the island going through the Sakhir area, south of Al Areen wildlife park and into the Al Jazair beach entrance.
Bahrain Road Runners chairman Adnan Al Qassab said: "All in all it was a great race and all had a good day and run - even though it was very tough most of the route."
The club also staged a 22 km training run on the same route as the 31st Bahrain Half Marathon which is scheduled to take place on Friday, January 25.
Registeration for the half marathon will be on the day from 6am to 7am inside the Marina club.
Entry fee for BRR members is BD3 and non-members BD 5
Winners of age categories will receive trophies, and all finishers will get a medal/certificate of completion.