Two Tauranga brothers are proving they will be tough to beat at the Rotorua Half Marathon after taking out the weekend's Tauranga Half.

Kyle and Iain Macdonald are the winners of the ninth annual event, which saw a little less than 1000 runners and walkers take part in the course from Ferguson Park through Tauranga's CBD.

Tauranga runner Kyle Macdonald was the first man to finish the Tauranga Half Marathon on Sunday. Photos by: Cameron Avery.

Tauranga runner Jess Ruthe was the second woman across the finish line.

Kyle was the first to cross the finish line in 1 hour and 10 minutes, with Iain finishing just three minutes behind his brother.

'He [Kyle] was in the front from the get go basically and was a couple of minutes ahead of his brother Iain the whole time,” says event organiser Luke Garea.

'Those guys are training for the Rotorua Half Marathon, which is in three weeks' time.”

Luke says entry numbers have increased in the last five years, with this year landing a new record of just under 1000 participants.

'It was just a really awesome day,” says Luke.

'There was great feedback on the feature half marathon course and Fergusson Park is just such a great place to finish as well.”

Auckland woman Lisa Robertson was the first female runner to complete the half marathon, followed by Tauranga runner Jess Ruthe in second.

As many as 60 children and their families also participated in the Matua Mile – a short course around Fergusson Park.

'We will certainly be looking to go well over the 1000 participants for our 10^th anniversary [next year],” says Luke.

Tauranga Half Marathon results:

Men:

First: Kyle Macdonald, 1 hour 10 minutes.

Second: Iain Macdonald, 1 hour 13 minutes.

Third: Sam Clark, 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Women:

First: Lisa Robertson, 1 hour 16 minutes.

Second: Jess Ruthe, 1 hour 17 minutes.

Third: Jessica Dean, 1 hour 28 minutes.

See full results here.

Tauranga runners Kyle Macdonald, Jess Ruthe and Iain Macdonald at the starting line.