Martin and women's winner Lauren Kerwick were crowned champions over the weekend, in what was a smaller event due to COVID restrictions.

Martin wasn't even planning on taking part after he rolled his ankle at the NSW 5,000 metre Championships last month.

"My ankle is a bit tender but it's not too bad on the flat stuff," he said.

"My mum and dad were doing it and managed to convince me in the end to race."

For the first 4km, Martin, Mitch Williamson (second) and Jack Bilton (third) were on each other's heels.

"I know how great MItch Williamson is at running so my plan was to stick with the leader for the first 2km and then we got about halfway on the second lap and Jack Bilton made a break and me and Mitch were straggling behind," Martin said.

"In the end I asked Mitch to sit in behind me and ended up closing the gap to first place. Then we all pretty much came in at the same time for the last lap and I knew then if I was feeling good to pick up again, and I ended up holding on.

"It was my first win in a long time. Sometimes you get a bit low on motivation and you start questioning why you do all the hard work when you don't really get anywhere with it, so I think this will be a good boost for me."

He finished the race in 19 minutes and 12 seconds.

Kerwick moved from Orange to the Gold Coast a year ago and had one thought in mind when she took to the Gosling Creek Reserve course.

"Just run as hard as I could," she said after the race.

"I love Gosling Creek. They've done an amazing job renovating it for all the triathlon and running community."

Kerwick finished the 6km race in 21 minutes and 47 seconds, more than two minutes in front of her closest challengers Jodie Martin and Mercede Cornelius-Feltus, who finished second and third respectively.

It was the first time Kerwick had managed to win at the festival and was glad to see it was still able to go ahead.

"I've been doing this festival all through high school and it's just so good and I love it."