GREAT Britain international Martin Scaife maintained his unbeaten record with a runaway fifth victory in the Darlington 10K yesterday.

The 35-year-old sports shop manager admitted afterwards: "It was like a training run for me."

In the absence of defending champion Stephen Hepples - on holiday in the Lake District - Scaife was never challenged, surging straight to the front and gradually increasing his lead throughout the race to beat newly-crowned North-East 5K road race champion Stewy Bell by an emphatic 73 seconds in 31 mins 7 secs.

Scaife, who has left Morpeth Harriers to join North Yorks Moors AC, was happy to maintain a steady pace and had no regrets about not chasing the £150 bonus for beating his own course record of 30 mins 21 secs.

"I've had a tough week's training and this was just a steady run for me," said Scaife after his fifth success in his home-town race in seven years.

"I just want to get fit - I am training hard and using races as quality runs."

Now Scaife could be looking towards next April's Flora London Marathon after making his debut over 26.2 miles in Antwerp in April, clocking a modest 2 hours 25 mins.

"I had a few problems after Antwerp and I had to have my heart checked out in hospital," revealed Scaife.

"I was having palpitations in my chest and I had a lot of tests. But everything was OK - the doctors thought it was a viral infection that was causing the problems."

He has no qualms about testing himself again over the classic distance, following the advice of his coach, former marathon international Ian Bloomfield.

"London could be in the pipeline," admitted Scaife. "But I am still learning about the marathon.

"I have a really good coach and he is keeping the lid on me as I find my feet. Some people just jump in and come unstuck."

Hepples, who beat Scaife in last year's Middlesbrough 10K, had been allotted race number one, but did not make the starting line.

"It would probably have been a quicker race if Stephen had been here but I wasn't really bothered. He's a great lad and we always have hard races - but if this didn't fit into his plans I can understand that."

Second-placed Stewy Bell - in his first race as an over-40 - was unable to repeat his memorable 2002 Darlington 10K battle with Scaife, when he was beaten by one second in an eyeballs-out sprint finish along High Row.

"I would have liked to have got a lot closer to Martin and I was hoping to be able to match his early pace. In my last two races I have run from the front and this is the first time I've had to chase someone."

Teesdale's Claire Robson successfully defended her title, winning in 36 mins 57 secs, a personal-best by 20 seconds.

She was challenged early on by Darlington junior Abby Wilson, who later faded to fourth, allowing North-East 10K champion Louise Noble (Sunderland) to claim second place in 37 mins 38 secs.

Robson, 23, who won the North-East 5K championship in Sunderland last month, will now be challenging Noble for the 10K crown in Middlesbrough next month.

Darlington's Chris Gaffney was caught napping in the 3K junior race, losing a huge lead along High Row as he was overtaken by the fast-finishing Liam Wintrip, of Sunderland Harriers.

Darlington Harrier Lewis Moses moved up 23 places in the UK senior rankings to 27th when he won the British Milers Club 1500m A race at Stretford in 3 mins 46.10 secs, improving his personal best by over two seconds. Second-placed Jon Taylor (Morpeth) clocked 3:46.33, beating his personal best by over three seconds.