Haile Gebrselassie hails 'special win' in Great North Run

The 37-year-old Ethiopian, the marathon world record holder and two-time Olympic 10,000metres champion, who was competing in the north-east half-marathon event for the first time, broke away at the halfway point to claim victory well ahead of Kenya's Kiplimo Kimutai.

In the women's race, Mara Yamauchi's bid to become the first British winner since Paula Radcliffe in 2003 ended in disappointment as she could only finish fifth behind another Ethiopian, Berhane Adere.

Gebrselassie won the 30th edition of the event, from Newcastle to South Shields, in 59 minutes 33 seconds, outside the course record of 59mins 5secs but a comfortable 1:50 ahead of Kimutai. Morocco's Jaouad Gharib was third.

Gebrselassie, who has set 26 world records in his career and is rated the greatest distance runner of all time, felt he could have gone faster had he been pushed.

"It was wonderful," said the four-time world 10,000m champion, who had been due to compete in the Great North Run in 2000 but had to pull out through injury.

"I needed someone to keep the pace until the last two kilometres and then it would have been perhaps a bit faster. It was a great win, this is something very special."

The winner, who should have debuted in the Bupa Great North Run after the 2000 Sydney Olympics but injured himself retaining his 10,000m title, confessed he was delighted that the promise he had made to race chairman Brendan Foster had finally been achieved.

"This is the Great North Run, it is so big and wonderful and it is good to be part of its history," said the 37-year-old who is getting ready for an autumn marathon. "It's nice to have won over a historical course and a race which has been running for 30 years."

Andrew Lemoncello admitted he was relieved to grab a top-ten finish despite nearly pulling out early on. The Scot was ninth, four minutes behind Gebrselassie. The Fifer had to overcome illness and fatigue to finish the half-marathon in 63mins 48secs.

"I felt hydrated at the start but afterwards I had to drink a lot before I came back to life," he said. "For some reason, I woke up at midnight and that was me awake until the race. But I managed to finish.

"To do that with that kind of preparation and get under 64 minutes is the only real positive. I'll just have to learn from it."

Gebrselassie's victory sealed an Ethiopian double following Adere's victory in the women's race.

Adere, like her compatriot a former world champion over 10,000m and a winner of the Great North run in 2006, finished in 68:49 to win ahead of Portuguese duo Ana Dulce Felix and Marisa Barros.

Yamauchi was unable to live with the pace and was not in contention. The Oxford-born athlete, whose last race was the London Marathon back in April when she finished tenth having endured a six-day journey to get to the capital because of the travel chaos caused by the Icelandic ash cloud, is building up to the New York Marathon in November.

"I was hoping to run a little bit quicker but the main aim for the autumn is the New York Marathon," said Yamauchi, who is based in Japan.

"That was a really strong field. I didn't know what to expect from the Portuguese and Spanish girls as a lot of them are track runners. Adere is a really good runner.

"I felt ok but I was hoping I would have more strength at the end."

Britain's Paralympic medallists David Weir and Shelly Woods won the men's and women's wheelchair races respectively.

lScottish number one Kerry Lang ended a frustrating summer on a high note with a third place finish at the GE Parc Bryn Bach Triathlon yesterday.

Elderslie-based Lang pulled away with training partner Helen Jenkins and Jodie Simpson on the bike stage, but Nairn-born Jenkins moved clear on the run to take victory with Simpson's second place securing the British Super Series title for the second year in succession.

But Lang was delighted to recover her best form after illness and injury. "I'm really pleased," she said. "I have had a difficult season with a few problems with my chest but it's been great to get out and race in the British Elite Triathlon Championships and get on the podium.

"It's a very tough sport and with the Olympics in 2012, the British Championships are very competitive so I'm delighted."

Alistair and Jonny Brownlee both crossed the line together as the brothers shared a joint victory in the men's race, with Tim Don, in fourth, taking the Series title. Arbroath's Ritchie Nicholls was 25th.