The world record holder Jacob Kiplimo became the first Ugandan man to win the Great North Run while Hellen Obiri defended her title.
The 21-year-old reigning world half-marathon champion left a world-class field in his wake in his first appearance at the event, having built up a 32-second lead by the 12-mile mark.
He crossed the line in 59:33, 66 seconds ahead of Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega, with Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele third in 1:01:01.
“I enjoyed the race, it was nice,” said Kiplimo. “I came here to win it, I was not worried about the people, it was just about winning the race. The atmosphere was nice, the crowd was nice.”
Last year’s winner, Marc Scott from Northallerton, finished sixth with a time of 1:02:28.
In the women’s race, the champion Obiri held off Peres Jepchirchir and Almaz Ayana to retain her title. They broke away from the field early in the race and although they were joined briefly by Hiwot Gebrekidan, it was that trio who contested the race as it entered its final throes.
Obiri made the decisive kick in sight of the finish line as she clocked 1:07:05 – 37 seconds faster than last year – with her fellow Kenyan Jepchirchir, the Olympic marathon champion, two seconds behind and Ayana a further three seconds adrift.
“It’s good for me because I won last year and I won this year on different courses,” said Obiri. “It’s a great opportunity to do a faster one than last time, so I’m so happy.”
Charlotte Purdue, who finished third last year, came home in fifth place in 1:10:11.
Race founder Sir Brendan Foster addressed the runners before the start and later told the BBC he believed the Queen would have wanted the event to go ahead.
He said: “We felt it was in tune with what would have been the Queen’s wishes: people coming together as a community, coming together to do what they aimed for, to be the best version of themselves they could be to raise money for charities. She spent a lot of her life raising money for charity, so we felt it was the right thing to do.”
David Weir powered his way to a ninth Great North Run victory in the men’s wheelchair race, coming homing in 42:59, two seconds ahead of Daniel Sidbury, with Nathan Maguire third in 46.40.
There was an even tighter finish in the women’s wheelchair race, where Eden Rainbow-Cooper and Samantha Kinghorn sprinted over the line in 51:27, with Rainbow-Cooper getting there just seven seconds ahead of Shelly Woods in third. The seven-times Paralympic champion Hannah Cockcroft finished fifth in 56:36.