Newton Aycliffe: Stewy Bell has made a triumphant return to competitive running by beating around 200 entrants to win the Club's 10k 3M Centenary Road Race.

The 34-year-old British international from Chester-le-Street had been out of competitions since suffering a back injury in the London Marathon two years ago.

But he completed the course in 32:07 mins, ahead of second-placed Rob Hand (who also won the men's Over-40 veterans' class) and Martin Grainger third. The first woman home was Bernadette Taylor in 37:17 mins, with Alison Raw second and Sheila Allen third.

"Although most of the runners were from the local community, we had competitors from as far as Scarborough and even Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire," said race director Sue Milburn.

"It was a great success in terms of the personal achievement of the runners and for the charities for which many of them were being sponsored.

"We would like to thank all those who supported us - 3miles for their sponsorship and also the police, the Town Council, the St John Ambulance and race officials Les Venmore and Julie and Max Coleby for their invaluable help."

As well as the main race, there was also a 3k fun run that attracted almost 120 entries and this was won by 15-year-old Matthew Lomax in a time of 11:18 mins, knocking 40 seconds off the course record he set last year.

3M Aycliffe's site was sponsoring the event as part of the company's centenary celebrations this year and around 25 employees and family members took part in one of the two races.

Among the runners was Alan Kellett, engineering manager at 3M Aycliffe, who commented: "We were delighted to be able to support the event and will be doing so again next year. There was a great atmosphere and I think everybody enjoyed the day."

The event attracted entrants of all ages and the class winners in the 10k race included those of 70+ for men and 55+ for women.