MIGHTY Morpeth Harriers will be trying for a sixth consecutive victory in the Northern 12-Stage Road Relay Championships in Manchester today.

And the Northumbrians, who have proved invincible in the competition since finishing fifth in 1999, will be welcoming back into action several leading athletes who missed the club's eighth win in a row in the Elswick Good Friday relays.

Returning to competition are double North-East cross country champion Neil Wilkinson and Mick McCormick, who hoisted Morpeth into the lead with the fastest short-leg run at Bradford last year.

Also back are Ian Hollingsworth, fresh from his victory in the inaugural North Tyneside 10K last Sunday, and Martin Scaife, who was fourth in last weekend's Wilmslow Half Marathon.

Also in the squad is track middle-distance specialist Tom Ranger, who ran the fastest time in the Elswick event, and first leg leader Dan Samuels.

Only club stalwarts Mark and Ian Hudspith, both recovering from injury, will be missing from the line-up at Heaton Park, and the Northumbrians, who also won the North-East Road Relay Championship in February, have great strength in depth to call upon.

While Morpeth are going for gold, Chester-le-Street AC will be satisfied with medals of a different hue in the women's six-stage event.

The Cestrians won the championship in 2003 and finished third last year, but are without key performers Dianne Heneghan and Sarah Wilkinson, who are both nursing injuries.

But back in action is Great Britain international Morag McDonnell, who was forced to miss last month's World Cross Country Championships trial in Nottingham with flu.

The former North-East cross country champion, who anchored Chester-le-Street to victory two years ago, will again run the last leg. Her team-mates will be Steph Robson, Maxine Czarnecka, Alyson Dixon, Sophie Milburn, and Loughborough University student Vanessa Raw.

* Scarborough's Ricky Wilson (32.26) won the New Marske Mermaid 10K, beating veteran Herne Hill Harrier Keith Newton by three seconds, with Hartlepool Burn Road's Mark Armstrong third in 32.37. The women's race was won by Swaledale over-35 Erica Johnson in 40.04.

* Newly-crowned North-East half marathon champion Stephen Hepples is expected to be the leading contender in tomorrow's inaugural Hartlepool Marina five-mile road race (10.30am). Late entries will be accepted.