Toroitich’s victory was his second of the season and his fourth consecutive podium finish at the event on the outskirts of Madrid, while McCormack dominated the women’s contest, winning by 38 seconds.

The men’s event featured a breakaway group of five by the second kilometre, consisting of Toroitich, Eritrea's Aron and Goitom Kifle, Bahrain’s El Hassan El Abbassi and Kenyan Jairus Birech.

Shortly after the third kilometre the Ugandan built a small lead but was instantly caught by Aron Kifle and Birech.

The following 2300-metre loop, covered in 6mins and 58 sec by the leading trio, did not offer any dramatic changes to the head of the field.

By the halfway point, El Abbassi and Goitom Kifle ran narrowly behind Toroitich while Spain’s Ayad Lamdassem and Italy’s Yemanem Crippa followed just behind.

Some 16 minutes into the race Birech could no longer match Toroitich’s rhythm and he began to fall away.

Toroitich’s relentless pace reaped dividends by the bell as he built a lead of eight seconds over Aron Kifle.

Facing a course full of rain and mud, the last lap proved to be especially tough for the competitors.

Toroitich seemed unaffected though, extending his lead throughout the closing stages to finish in 30min 52sec, nine seconds clear of the 19-year-old Eritrean who crossed the line in 31:01.

Birech completed the podium 14 seconds behind the victor in 31:06.

"I had already competed here several times in the past and knew the circuit was tough but this year was even more difficult and there was a lot of mud and I sometimes found it difficult to remain upright," said Toroitich.

"That’s an important campaign for me as the World Cross Country Championships will take place in my country, although it’s still early days to know what kind of performance I can expect there."

Held before the men’s race, the women’s race saw a magnificent display by McCormack, the 2011 and 2012 European champion.

The 32-year-old started strong, running comfortably alongside Ethiopian Etenesh Diro for the first half of the race.

Shortly after the 2,000m mark, McCormack and Diro were already a class apart from the rest of the field, with only Spaniard Trihas Gebre, running five seconds behind, still maintaining contact with the leaders.

It was the in-form Irishwoman who broke away with incredible ease some 14 minutes into the race, going on to complete a dazzling performance.

Even with her win secured before the final lap, McCormack maintained her incredible pace to cruise to a 38-second victory in a time of 28:18, 200m ahead of the Ethiopian who crossed the line 28:56.

Gebre was third to the delight of the home crowd, another 25 seconds back in 29:21.

"Wow, it was a very tough race because of the muddy circuit," McCormack said.

"Sometimes it wasn’t easy to know how close or far the others were so I just decided to run as quickly as possible."

McCormack confirmed that she will likely not compete on the track indoors in 2017, choosing to prepare instead for a spring marathon.

During the Rio 1016 Olympic Games, McCormack clocked a lifetime marathon best of 2:31:22, finishing 20th.