Sonia O'Sullivan's racing year ended as it had begun with an easy victory, this time in Newcastle's Great North Run yesterday.

Overcoming both the conditions and opposition, she broke clear four miles from the finish to win her first fully competitive run over the half-marathon distance.

Her time of one hour, 11 minutes and 50 seconds gave her more than a minute to spare over the reigning European marathon champion Manuela Machado of Portugal, with the Kenyan Pamela Chepchumba back in third.

After running "just for the fun of it" in last year's race, O'Sullivan was in much more competitive mood on this occasion. Wearing gloves to protect against the cold, she joined Machado in the lead from the start and even at that early stage it was apparent that the winner would come from this pair.

The break when it came at the nine-mile mark caught the Portuguese runner by surprise and in a matter of 200 yards O'Sullivan had opened up a decisive lead. O'Sullivan always gave the impression that she was capable of increasing the pace if danger threatened but as it transpired there was no response from Machado. Gradually, the gap widened and O'Sullivan kept her stride to the applause of the spectators who had come out to watch the 40,000 runners.

"I decided I would plan the race on my feet and see what was happening around me before deciding how I would run the last part of it. I sensed that it was time to make a move when we reached nine miles and once I had opened a gap, I felt very comfortable.

"After concentrating on cross-country and track running earlier in the year, it was nice to win on the road but as regards running a full marathon, that is something that is going to have to wait."

The men's race, as expected, was won by Josiah Thugware, the Olympic marathon champion in Atlanta, who got away from the Kenyan, John Matat, over the last three miles to win in 1:2.21 seconds. Martin Fizz of Spain was third.