RECORD-BREAKING runner Martin Scaife is aiming to take his athletics form on a month-long holiday to Australia.

And the 32-year-old newly-crowned North-East 5K road race champion has his sights set on a top placing in Sydney's big City to Surf 10K.

Next month's holiday "down under" means that the Morpeth Harrier will miss the Darlington 10K, which he has won for three years in a row. But Scaife is excited about running in one of Australia's major athletics events.

"It is a really big event in Sydney with a field of around 5,000 runners, starting in the city and finishing on Bondi Beach - it's the Australian equivalent of our Great North Run," he said.

Scaife, previously with Teesside club Mandale Harriers and Chester-le-Street, has risen through the ranks to become one of the region's top road runners.

Earlier this month he knocked nearly two minutes off the course record in the Darlington Harriers Pitstop 10K at the Croft Circuit and a week later headed a top class field to win the North-East title in the Sunderland 5K, again in record time.

Scaife's time at Silksworth of 14 mins 23 secs was two seconds better than the course record set in 2002 by former World Championships international Michael Openshaw.

Openshaw, ex-Commonwealth Games marathon bronze medallist Mark Hudspith and North-East cross country champion Neil Wilkinson were among the "scalps" claimed by Scaife, who also avenged his narrow defeat in last month's Blaydon Race at the hands of club-mate Hudspith for the £500 regional prize.

The key to Scaife's victory at Silksworth was his powerful finish, out-sprinting Hudspith, and he said afterwards: "I'm really pleased - the course was very fast and this was such a good field."

International Morag McDonnell, of Chester-le-Street, won the women's title when she equalled club-mate Dianne Heneghan's course record of 16 mins 17 secs.

Results - Men: 1 M Scaife (Morpeth) 14.23; 2 M Hudspith (Morp) 14.29; 3 R McLeod (Elswick) 14.32; 4 M Openshaw (Birchfield) 14.45; 5 A Toward (Morp) 14.49; 6 N Wilkinson (Morp) 15.00; 7 S O'Donnell (Chester-le-Street) 15.11; 8 B Rushworth (Sunderland M40) 15.16; 9 T Doughty (Sund M40) 15.21; 10 D Swinburne (Morp) 15.24.

Women: 1 M McDonnell (Chester-le-Street) 16.17; 2 H Wooton (Newcastle Univ) 17.32; 3 M Holt (Sund) 17.48; 4 S Milburn (ClS) 18.27; 5 M Czarnecka (ClS) 18.40