Mo Farah beaten in Great North Run sprint finish by Kenenisa Bekele

Kenenisa Bekele wins the Great North Road ahead of Farah and Haile/PA

Kenenisa Bekele could feel Mo Farah bearing down on him like a hawk swooping in for the kill. This time, however, the prey outfoxed the predator.

There was to be no glorious finale for Farah in his first attempt at the Great North Run half-marathon, yet Great Britain's Olympic champion can take solace from the fact that he was beaten here by one of the finest long-distance runners of the modern era. One second was the mere gap that separated Bekele and Farah, but the Ethiopian timed it beautifully.

He fought his way through the fierce Tyneside wind to finish the 32nd Great North Run in 1hr 00min 09sec, with his compatriot Haile Gebrselassie, who set the pace for the majority of the race, third in 1:00.41. For Gebrselassie it was one more record to add to his stellar career, running the fastest half-marathon ever recorded by a man aged 40 or over.

Farah set a new British record but missed out on a glorious victory by a matter of yards. As he clawed Bekele's lead back over the final 400m it felt as if a denouement to rival last year's 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic triumphs was on the cards. But if Farah's ace in the pack is his sublime sprint finish, Bekele played his joker midway through the race.

Dropping 25m behind Farah and Gebrselassie at the halfway point, it appeared Bekele was struggling on account of a foot injury that has hindered his progress this year. So it seemed, at least, before he rejoined the pack with remarkable ease and accelerated away from his rivals with one mile remaining.

"I thought I had it," said Farah afterwards. But little did he know that Bekele's decision to drop off was a cunning ruse intended to increase the pace of the leaders and allow him to finish with a flurry. "If he had come to the front with us, he thought we might have slowed the pace down," said Farah. "So [his plan] definitely did work. I was telling Haile: 'the gap's not enough'."

Bekele said: "It's amazing. This time my injury is over, I'm getting better and have recovered. I trained well and in the end I did it."

For Farah, this was vital preparation for next year's London Marathon as he continues to make the progression from the track to the road. The Newcastle to South Shields course presented an undulated challenge in testing conditions, and in Bekele he has found an adversary capable of pushing him all the way in what could now develop into an enthralling rivalry.

The Ethiopian, who holds the 5,000m and 10,000m world records, is hoping to also compete in the capital next April, potentially setting up another heavyweight bout between the duo.

"You're always going to be disappointed when you lose," said Farah. "You don't want to lose, but to lose against Kenenisa, he's a great athlete. He has great experience. At some point I honestly thought we were dropping him, but he wanted the pace to continue and he was feeling good.

"It would have been nice for me to come out and win it, but it went right to the line. Ken's been training for this event and he's in great shape. My main aim for the year was the world championships, so that's the one I've been training for all year. But we showed today it was a great race – it was awesome in terms of having all three of us.

"It should be [a great rivalry]. Ken's definitely stepping off towards the road so it's exciting – this is what athletics is about."

Farah's downfall came after 12 miles. Paula Radcliffe advised him to take the foot off the gas during a short, steep downhill section of the course but it was at that moment when Bekele grasped his unassailable lead. "When Kenenisa went with a mile to go I thought the pace was just ridiculous and I'd close it back, slowly. But it came down to the last 200m and went right to the line," Farah added.

There were no such problems for two of Britain's other champions on the track last summer. David Weir and Shelly Woods comfortably won their respective races in the wheelchair disciplines, both taking their fifth Great North titles, while the women's elite race provided a surprise result.

The contest had been billed as a battle between the two Ethiopians Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar, yet neither had an answer for an impressive finish from Priscah Jeptoo, the London Marathon champion. Jeptoo's time of 1:05.45 was four seconds off the best time over 13 miles set here by Radcliffe and once the Kenyan accelerated away from her rivals with four miles remaining, the result was never in doubt.

Farah, meanwhile, can now reflect on a successful campaign and look back on an encouraging half-marathon debut. He may never run in such a formidable field again, a long-distance triumvirate to rival any that has gone before, but there is work to be done if he is to secure his ambition of becoming a true champion on the road.

"I'll see you in London," he joked to Bekele as the pair went their separate ways. That reunion, one feels, would be some race.

This article was amended on 16 September 2013. An earlier version said Mo Farah was competing in his first half-marathon. It was his Great North Run debut, but not his first half-marathon.

SOURCE: The Guardian