NEWLY-PROMOTED Morpeth Harriers will challenge First Division champions Sunderland Harriers for their DP Furniture North-East Harrier League title when the new season starts at Farringdon today.

North-East half-marathon champion Terry Wall, one of the regions most prolific competitors on the road and over the country, led the Northumbrians to the top division by winning the senior men's trophy last season and is again expected to be Morpeth's leading runner.

But many of the club's top cross country men, including reigning North-East champion Neil Wilkinson and brothers Mark and Ian Hudspith, are not regular contestants in the Harrier League, which operates a three-tier handicap system, and could be saving themselves for next weekend's National Cross Country Relays at Mansfield.

In the North-East league, the fastest runners are restricted to the fast pack, which gives away starts of 2 minutes to the medium and five minutes to the slow-pack athletes. But scoring in the team championships is by a club's six best finishing positions, so the slower runners' placings can be just as important as their more accomplished colleagues.

Sunderland, with considerable strength in depth, have dominated the Harrier League Division One over the past two decades, and are seeking a flying start on home territory at Farringdon.

Sunderland secretary Les Arnott, who has played a major part in the club's success by encouraging participation in the League, said: "We always have a good turn out because the League has its special appeal to our members.

"It gives the ordinary club runner a chance to do his bit for the club and become one of the six team counters.

"We have done very well in recent seasons but the return of Morpeth to the top division could make things more difficult."

Sunderland's 38-year-old team captain, Tim Field, has the incentive of starting with the medium pack after several years of running off scratch, while World Triathlon Championships over-40 bronze medallist Tom Doughty will be defending his veterans' title.

The meeting starts at 12.30pm with the under-13 girls' race and the men's race gets under way at 1.15.