SUNDERLAND athletes Brian Rushworth and Sheila Allen will start strong favourites for gold medals in today's British Veterans Cross Country Championships at Irvine, Scotland.

First-year over-40 Rushworth, who won a record ten senior men's titles in the North-East Cross Country Championships, has rapidly established himself as the region's top veteran, snatching the crown from last year's British Vets cross country and 10,000m road race champion Rob Hand, from Durham City.

Allen, who has won national veterans' titles at over-35 and over-40, is going for a hat-trick of gold medals as she competes in the over-45 category for the first time.

Rushworth, who has represented Great Britain on the road, is back to top form after struggling for 15 months with a serious ankle injury.

He showed when winning the final North-East Harrier League fixture at Prudhoe last month that he is still a force to be reckoned with over the country - a performance which persuaded him to go for his first national veterans title.

Hand, who won the NEHL veterans' championship, has decided not to defend his national title at Irvine.

Allen, who was disappointed to return empty-handed from last year's championships at Mansfield, has been troubled recently with a hip injury which prevented her from competing in the Redcar Half Marathon, one of her favourite races. But she won the senior women's race at Wallsend last week and travels north with confidence.

* The annual North-East Track and Field Championships have been switched from Gateshead International Stadium, where track resurfacing is in progress, to Shildon's 2000 Stadium on May 10 and 11. And Gateshead Harriers have also decided to move their Open Medals Meeting to Jarrow's Monkton Stadium next Sunday.