PETERLEE baker Terry Wall returned from injury to give himself an early birthday present when he won the 3M 10K at Newton Aycliffe for the second year in succession.

The Morpeth Harrier - 34 on Friday - picked up the £100 first prize with a 25 second victory over former Buckingham cross country champion Charles Herrington, clocking 32 mins 25 secs, nine seconds slower than last year.

But Wall admitted his apprehension at taking on the Belgrave Harrier after recovering from a hamstring injury which ruined his London Marathon ambitions.

"When I saw the Belgrave lad on the start line I thought he would win it," admitted Wall.

"But during the race I noticed that he and another leading runner were not breathing to easy so I decided to push the pace a little.

"Once I got a gap I knew I would be able to maintain it and I'm delighted to have won after the problems I've had."

Wall pulled his hamstring in London after 16 miles, jogging on to the finish and then made the mistake of competing for Morpeth in the National 12- Stage road relay championships, aggravating the injury.

"I missed 16 days of training through the injury and then another with flu, but I can't really complain because I'd gone over two years without any problems," said Wall, who won the North-East half marathon title at Redcar in March. "But I'm chuffed to bits with my victory - it was about the same time as last year and I'm not as race fit as I was then."

Herrington, who has moved to Coxhoe from Milton Keynes, has signed second claim for Durham City Harriers and hopes to run for the North-East in inter-area events.

The reigning Buckinghamshire 5,000m track champion and a member of Belgrave's victorious South of England 12-stage team suffered from a touch of cramp after 4K and was unable to hold Wall.

Durham University's Olivia Walwyn was a comfortable winner of the women's race in 37 mins 37 secs, beating teammate Avine Fox winner of the Raby Castle 10K two weeks earlier - by 1 min 21 sec.

Young athletes from Durham University supported the event in force and were rewarded with victories in both team races. The successful men's team was Tom Bush (9th), Keith Fairbank (12th), Mark Smith (20th) and Nick Hinde (24th). Joining Walwyn and Fox in the winning women's team was Jenny Abbott, who finished 5th.

* Four new records were set in the Northumberland Schools Championships at Gateshead International Stadium. Kieran Flannery (Newcastle Royal Grammar) clipped three tenths of a second off the senior 400m hurdles in 54.5 secs, while Lauren Dewdney (Newcastle Central High) broker the junior girls 75m hurdles record of 11.9 secs twice, clocking 11.7 secs in her heat and winning the final in 11.8 secs. Stephen Cathcart (Newcastle) improved the junior 400m record by one tenth of a second, running 54.0 secs.

* Durham Central's Samantha Coleby broke a ten-year-old record in the Durham Schools Championships at Chester-le-Street. The 13-year-old improved her personal best of 11.69 secs in the junior girls 75m hurdles to 11.50 secs, a new record by two tenths of a second. Chester-le-Street's Lorna McMichael won the intermediate girls 300m hurdles in 44.5 secs - taking over two seconds off the record.

* Kings Manor student Jonathan Taylor, the reigning Northern Under-17 1500 champion, won the athlete of the meeting award at the Cleveland Schools Championships, after clocking 4 mins 6.4 secs, winning by 20 seconds.

St Davids schoolboy Yousef Aliu, the 100m and 200m under-15 North-East champion, completed a sprint double with times of 11.1 secs and 23.6 secs, while Acklam Grange's Faye Winspear won the girl of the meeting award for her 26.0 secs performance in the intermediate 200m.