South Africa's Tete Dijana, 34, flashed a wide smile when he crossed the Comrades Marathon finish line in five hours and 30 minutes in the eastern port city of Durban on Sunday.
He works as a security guard at North-West University, and his employer congratulated him on Twitter.
It was Dijana's second go at the annual event, having placed 50th in 2019.
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— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) August 28, 2022
At the last Comrades Marathon, Tete Dijana finished 50th, today he walks away as a CHAMPION ??
?? Stream #TheUltimateHumanRace live: https://t.co/0BMWdeEYT3 pic.twitter.com/7AYivFa3mJ
A Russian athlete won the women's event after a successful court challenge to her exclusion from the gruelling 90-kilometre (56-mile) race.
Aleksandra Morozova, 32, conquered the route across South Africa's eastern hills in six hours and 17 minutes, said organisers.
But she was only able to compete after overcoming her initial exclusion from the event.
The World Athletics Council had recommended her exclusion as part of the ban on Russian athletes from international events over the country's invasion of Ukraine.
She got the ban reversed by a South African court on Friday.
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— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) August 28, 2022
An emotional, Alexandra Morozova takes the women's race in the 95th Comrades Marathon with ???? South Africa's Adele Broodryk coming in 3rd place ?????? pic.twitter.com/TTZ1C3yRyw
Morozova placed second in the 2019 race and third in the 2018 race. This year, as winner, she picks up a $15 000 prize.
The previous two years' events were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly 15 000 people took part in the race, with an average completion time of 10 hours and 18 minutes.
The Comrades ultra marathon was first run in 1921 and is staged annually between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.