The 21-year-old raced clear of the field to break the tape in under one hour.
World record holder Jacob Kiplimo became the first Ugandan man to win the Great North Run on an emotional day on Tyneside.
The 21-year-old, the reigning world half-marathon champion, left a world-class field in his wake in his first appearance at the event and had a 32-second lead as he hit the 12-mile mark on the 13.1-mile course from Newcastle to South Shields.
He crossed the line in 59.33, 66 seconds ahead of Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega, with Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele third in 1.01.01.
Kiplimo told the PA news agency: “I enjoyed the race, it was nice. I came here to win it, I was not worried about the people, it was just about winning the race.
“The atmosphere was nice, the crowd was nice.”
Last year’s winner Marc Scott, from Northallerton, finished sixth in a time of 1.02.28.