Mutai finished in one hour 50sec, 18 seconds ahead of Farah, however it was the Briton who stole the headlines when he was carried off in a wheelchair after collapsing just seconds after finishing the distance.

Drama started around the five-mile mark when the 5,000 and 10,000 metres Olympic champion had his heel accidentally clipped from behind causing him to crash to the tarmac.

The fall gave Mutai and fellow Kenyan Stephen Sambu the opportunity to pull clear and, after pushing hard to edge past Sambu into second, 30-year-old Farah immediately collapsed upon crossing the finish line before being taken away in a wheelchair.

Farah, preparing to make his full marathon debut in London on April 13, did not need hospital treatment following the incident and was well enough to tell reporters that the collapse was "no big deal".

"I do remember sort of passing out," Farah said.

"I tried so hard in the race, taking a fall and then going through.

"But, yeah, I'm all right.

"It's fine.

"It's not a big deal."

Mo Farah collapses just seconds after crossing the finish line in second at the New York City Half Marathon ©Getty Images



In what was his first competitive outing since he finished second in the Great North Run over the same half marathon distance last September, Farah said he had no clear recollection about the tumble that effectively cost him the race.

"I'm not sure what happened," he admitted.

"I just remember sort of falling down and just hitting the ground quite hard.

"I got caught on my hip, my ankle, the whole right-hand side.

"For the last four miles I struggled a bit.

"I was pretty much seeing stars."

In a less dramatic women's race, there was more delight for Kenya as Sally Kipyego set a course record time of 68min 31sec en route to victory.

She finished 29 seconds clear of Ethiopia's Bizunesh Deba, with American Molly Huddle coming in five seconds further back.

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