Anne Johnston, Matt Loiselle this year's Tely 10 champs

Amidst bleak skies and 12 Ctemperatures, nearly 4,700 runners took to the streets Sunday for the 88th annual Tely 10 road race.

Toronto's MattLoiselle won the race, completing the ten miles with an official time of 49:28.

AnneJohnston from St. John's was the female champion, with an officialtime of 58:58. This was her first time running the race in six years; she won in 2004with a time of 58:52.

Johnston said she was surprised that her time this year was on par with her previous races.

"I didn't think I had it in me anymore, but I did. I've always loved running and just been battling injuries, and haveyoung families and dealing with pregnancies and trying to come back from that," said Johnston.

"It felt awesome the whole way through, and I'mreally happy with it all."

This is alsoLoiselle'ssecond timewinning theTely10, after a slightly faster finish in 2012.

"I was satisfied, I guess. I would have like to run a little quicker," he said.

Loisellewas alone for most of the race, leading the pack by a significant distance.

"A couple of guys went out pretty quick, but by the first turn I caught them. It was just me and a cop car the rest of the way," he said.

"The longer the distance the more you've got to expect to run alone, so you can't really complain about that."

Loisellesaid hewill spend the rest of the summertraining for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October, where he hopes to make Olympic qualifying times.

Although chilly for spectators, runners said the cool July conditions couldn't have been better.Last year,Tely 10 temperatures were in themid-20s and about30runners suffered heat stroke and heat exhaustion.

For the race winners, the colder temperatures were welcome.

"The weather was ideal. Couldn't have asked for better conditions," said Johnston.

"I like the cold temperatures," agreed Loiselle. "I came from Ontario, where it was in the 40s last week. It was actually perfect for racing."

The annual ten-mile (16-kilometre) road race spans from McNamara Drivein Paradise to Bannerman Road in St. John's.