Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele saw off Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang to take victory at the Great Manchester Run.
The 5,000m and 10,000m world record holder clocked 28 minutes and 23 seconds to finish five seconds ahead of marathon world record holder Kipsang.
World and Olympic 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba earned a comfortable victory in the women’s competition, finishing the 10km course in 31:09.
Britain’s Gemma Steel was second, more than a minute behind Ethiopian Dibaba.
Polline Wanjiku closely challenged Steel on the line, but vocal support saw the 28-year-old run home ahead of the Kenyan in 32:10.
“That really lifted me, I was fighting for that silver and it’s good to see that I can sprint when I have to,” Steel told BBC Sport.
“It’s good to establish myself in these races again, I feel at home in them. To come back and finish behind Dibaba, who is the best in the world, you can’t complain about that.”
Three-time Olympic champion Bekele, making his British 10k road debut, was matched by Kipsang until the closing stages.
But a late burst of acceleration in the final 400m earned the Ethiopian victory, with South African Stephen Mokoko taking third.
Among the 40,000 entrants at Europe’s biggest 10km running event were former footballers Phil Neville, Michael Gray and Robbie Savage, soap stars Julie Hesmondhalgh and Denise Welch, and former snooker world champion Shaun Murphy.
