Haile Gebrselassie returned to form with an easy victory at the Great Birmingham Run on Sunday after dropping out of last month's Berlin Marathon with breathing problems.

The Ethiopian great broke clear to prevail in a time of one hour one minute 29 seconds.

Essa Rashed was runner-up in 1:02:28 while Morocco's Abderrahime Bouramdane, fourth in last month's world championship marathon, was third in 1:03:57.

"The last part of the race was a bit windy and I was almost crying going up that hill which was very tough," said Gebrselassie, whose next marathon is in Tokyo in February.

Gemma Steel added to her growing reputation when adding Louise Damen to the list of the top British women she has beaten this year when also flying to a lifetime best mark of 1:12:21 to win the women's race.