NORTH-EAST half marathon champion Stephen Hepples is set to make a rare visit to Tyneside in search of a fast 10K road race time.

The 25-year-old Redcar-based finance officer underlined his fitness by running the fastest 5.5K short-leg time (16 mins 16 secs) in last weekend's Southern 12-Stage Road Race Championships, when he played a major part in helping his British Athletics League Division One club Newham and Essex Beagles win the silver medals.

Now the versatile North Yorkshireman, who is in the UK rankings from 1500m metres to 13.1 miles, looks set to make an impact on the North-East road race scene.

He is considering a trip to Tyneside to compete in the Wallsend 10K tomorrow after being told that the course is one of the fastest in the region, with a gradual downhill run to the finish after the first one and a half miles.

The course record, of 29 mins 28 secs, was set by Colin Walker, once one of the region's top athletes, in the 1980s and could be in Hepples' sights tomorrow when his main rival would be Chester-le-Street's former Great Britain international, Stewy Bell.

Hepples, who won the 3000m bronze medal in the AAA Indoor Championships in Sheffield in February, has twice broken the 30 minute barrier over 10K. He ran 29 mins 45 secs finishing 7th in the National 10K Road Race Championships in Cardiff two years ago and then got his personal best down to 29.30 in the Leeds Abbey Dash.

* Top North-East coach Lindsay Dunn is taking three members of his training squad on a three-week training break in Boulder, Colorado next week.

Dunn, who coached the Chester-le-Street squad which was the first North-East women's team to win the English National Cross Country Championship, will put Nick McCormick, Morag McDonnell and Alyson Dixon through their paces at altitude.

The three put in eye-catching performances at last weekend's Northern Road Relay Championships, where McCormick ran the fastest short-leg helping Morpeth win the 12-stage title for the sixth year in a row, while McDonnell and Dixon were members of Chester-le-Street's silver-medal winning team in the women's six stage.

McDonnell, 31, has given up her job as a teacher at King James School, Bishop Auckland to go on the training break, deciding it will help her track performances this summer.

Two weeks after returning from Boulder McDonnell will race over 1500m in the North-East Track and Field Championships at Gateshead International Stadium on May14-15.

* European cross country champion Hayley Yelling faces a tough race in Ireland today as she bids for a return to winning form.

Yelling tackles a talented Dublin field headed by former Olympic 5000 metres silver medallist Sonia O'Sullivan who is aiming to regain the BUPA Great Ireland Run title at Phoenix park.

But neither has an easy task, the 10km road race having attracted former American Olympian Amy Rudolph and Irish cross country champion Jolene Byrne.

Charlotte Dale, the 20-year-old former European junior cross country winner who has a fast 32 minutes 13 seconds road race time under her belt already this year, will also start a strong contender.

Yelling, who like the rest of the Norwich Union GB long course side under-performed in last month's IAAF World Cross Country championships, is hoping to show her true calibre.

''It was a shocker as I had high expectations for both myself and the team,'' said the European number one description of her own performance in St Galmier three weeks ago.

Yelling, who finished a disappointed 33rd, made no excuses for the fact she fell on the second lap of the race and never fully recovered.

''It was just one of those days when nothing went right for us,'' said Yelling.