Mathathi took nine seconds off Zersenay Tadese's 2005 record of 59min 5sec with a storming run as the Kenyan pulled away in the second half of the event.

Mathathi's time of 58:56 ranks in the top six all-time for a half-marathon event.

Jonathan Maiyo had been the first to make a break, pulling clear after five miles, but Mathathi had overtaken him by the eight-mile mark and proceeded to pull clear with ease.

Maiyo settled for second, 31 seconds back, while London Marathon winner Emmanuel Mutai was third in a time of 59:52.

"I couldn't believe [the time]," said Mathathi, who had finished in the 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Daegu last month. 

Britain's Mo Farah, the winner of that race, had started the Great North Run, setting 54,000 runners on their way on the 13.1 mile course from Newcastle to South Shields. 

"My manager told me maybe I could run a 59-minute race and he gave me a lot of motivation and encouragement," said Mathathi.

Keith Gerrard was the first Briton to finish, 10th, in a time of 63:39.

The women's race was dominated by Kabuu, who had joined Ethiopia's defending champion Berhane Adere in pushing the pace early on but then broke clear by the five-mile mark.

The 27-year-old Kenyan. the 2006 Commonwealth Games 10,000m champion, quickly established a big lead and was soon out of sight, only just missing out on breaking the symbolic 67-minute mark as she finished in 67:06.

Only nine women have completed a half-marathon in less than 67 minutes.

Portugal's Jessica Augusto, the 2009 winner, came in second a minute-and-a-half back, with Britain's Jo Pavey and Helen Clitheroe fourth and fifth.

Kabuu's time was the third best in the history of this event, in only her second race back after giving birth to a daughter, Angel.

"I have trained well, and I expected to win the race," Kabuu said.

"I was expecting to run a good time today."

Pavey, who missed the World Athletics Championships with a foot injury, said she was just happy to be back running.

"It was lovely just to be out there, I really enjoyed it," said the 37-year-old.

"It was a strong field and I really felt it after three miles, but running with my buddy Helen [Clitheroe] we managed to work together and having done a good run ahead of [London] 2012 is great."

Clitheroe was also pleased with her effort, saying: "I didn't know what to expect, I enjoy running on the roads so it will be interesting to see if I can go any faster."

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