Capping off an incredible year for men’s marathon running, Geoffrey Mutai smashed the course record at the ING New York Marathon by more than two and a half minutes, winning with a time of 2:05:06.

It means that the course records for all five races in the World Marathon Majors – a series that also includes the Berlin, London, Boston and Chicago marathons – have all been broken this year, an incredible feat for such prestigious events that have been staged for many years.

Earlier this year in Boston, Mutai clocked a lifetime best of 2:03:02 – the fastest marathon performance of all time – but as it was set on a point-to-point course, it was not eligible to be ratified as a world record.

His performance in New York today, however, is unquestionably top class. The Big Apple course has never been known for producing fast times, but Mutai’s 2:05:06 performance is one of the top-20 clockings of all time, obliterating the course record that had stood for 10 years.

The Kenyan was one of a handful of runners to pass through the half-way mark in 63:18, which was fast by New York standards but didn’t suggest a low-2:05 clocking was on the cards.

Up until mile 21, Mutai still had company, including team-mate and namesake Emmanuel Mutai, this year’s London Marathon champion. There was also last year’s New York and London winners, Gebre Gebremariam and Tsegaye Kebede respectively. But shortly after going through that marker in 1:40:53, Mutai began to pull away.

Over the final five miles, Matai managed to open up a gap of almost a minute and a half over the rest of the field. Crossing the line in 2:05:06, he was followed home by Emmanuel Mutai (2:06:28) and Kebede (2:07:14), both of whom dipped inside the previous course record. Gebremariam was fourth (2:08:00).

John Beattie – making his marathon debut – was the top Briton in 21st, clocking 2:23:43. He had gone through half way in 67:23, just inside 2:15 pace, but began to suffer over the final six miles. Wilson Kipketer, former world record-holder in the 800m, competed among the masses and clocked 3:20:48.

The women’s race had looked set to be a runaway victory from Mary Keitany. She blitzed through the first 10km in 31:54 and passed half way in 67:56 – easily the fastest women’s half-marathon ever witnessed in New York. Her nearest challengers – Ethiopian duo Firewihot Dado and Bezunesh Deba – were more than two minutes behind at this point.

But at 21 miles – almost exactly the same point of the race where Mutai made his move in the men’s race – Keitany began to struggle. Her pace dropped significantly, while Dado and Deba worked together to make up the deficit.

The pair finally caught Keitany with just one mile to go. While Dado and Deba were locked in their own battle for top honours, Keitany could not respond. Dado, a three-time winner of the Rome Marathon, went on to win with a big PB of 2:23:15, four seconds ahead of her compatriot, Deba. Keitany held on for third place (2:23:38), comfortably ahead of Portugal’s Ana Dulce Felix (2:25:40).

Britain’s Jo Pavey had been looking to improve on her 2:28:24 personal best, set on her marathon debut in London earlier this year. She went through half way in just under 74 minutes and looked set to achieve her goal, but she faded slightly in the second half and was just outside her best, finishing eighth in 2:28:42.