VETERAN Iain Twaddle anchored North Shields Polytechnic to victory in the Wallsend Harriers' Gordon Smith Memorial Relays.

After Scott Ellis had overtaken the host club's Brian Hetherington on the second of the two-mile legs, handing over a 17 seconds lead, Twaddle held off a challenge by Harry Coates to beat the Wallsend runner by 16 seconds. Morpeth's Matt Nicholson lifted Morpeth Harriers from tenth to fourth on the final leg, clocking the fastest time of 9 mins 26 secs.

Wallsend won the women's race by 49 seconds from Elswick, with third leg runner Danielle Hodgkinson clocking the fastest time of the night to make up a 53 seconds deficit, moving from third to first.

Results - Men (3x2miles): 1 North Shields Polytechnic 29 mins 55 secs (G Cook 10.02 (2), S Ellis 9.56 (1), I Twaddle 9.57); 2 Wallsend 30.11 (C Smith 9.50 (1), B Hetherington 10.25 (2), H Coates 9.56); 3 Tyne Bridge 30.32 (K McPherson 10.23 (5), R Smith 10.34 (3), M Fenwick 9.35), Fastest times: 1 M Nicholson 9.26; 2 M Fenwick 9.35; 3 C Smith 9.50.

Women: 1 Wallsend 35.26 (E Blackett 13.14, S Rogers 11.24, D Hodgkinson 10.48); 2 Elswick 36.15 (A Dargie 11.24 (1), S Crow 12.21 (1), Y Thiru 12.30); 3 Jarrow & Hebburn 36.31 (A McGurk 11.45 (2), H Robinson 12.25 (2), C Simpson 12.21). Fastest times: 1 D Hodgkinson 10.48; 2= S Rogers & A Dargie 11.24.

*Sunderland Harrier Michelle Avery was awarded her fifth women's title in the annual Pier to Pier race after a numbers mix-up in the results wrongly named a Tyneside runner as the winner.

Avery, who last won the seven-mile multi-terrain event from South Shields to Sunderland in 2009, clocked 45 mins 37 secs to finish 57th overall.

Sunderland Harriers send a strong six-man team to the British Masters Road Relay Championships at Sutton Coldfield today, including ten times North-East cross country champion Brian Rushworth.