Athletics : NEWLY-CROWNED British Veterans cross country champion Rob Hand became the first over-40 to win the opening leg of the annual Elswick Road Relays yesterday.

But the Durham City doctor was later disqualified for also running the anchor leg for his team, who were a man short.

Hand, however, knew his fate in advance after consulting race referee Ernie Slaughter.

"We only had three runners and when I asked if I could run the last leg I was told I could - but the team would be disqualified," explained the Durham City Harrier, who had also been disqualified after finishing first in the South Shields 10K earlier in the month, when he missed the start.

Hand's time of 10 mins 32 secs for the 2.2 miles was the fastest until former Great Britain junior international Stephen Hepples, of Loftus, ran 10.26, a time which was matched, also on the second circuit, by Wallsend's Ivan Hollingsworth. But even though his Durham City team was disqualified from third place, Hand was still awarded the first prize as the fastest veteran of the event.

The relay was won for a fourth year in succession by Morpeth, but they were made to fight all the way by Sunderland.

The Northumbrians found themselves in third place going into the final leg, but Guisborough PE teacher Rob Holladay overtook Morpeth 'B' runner Richard Kay and then Sunderland's Tim Field to win a sprint finish by the narrowest of margins.

Sunderland, however, had the consolation of beating Morpeth by three seconds in the veterans' race, and the disqualification of Durham means that North Shields Polytechnic moved up into third place.

The 2.2 mile women's race saw a victory for Morpeth's Angela Dickie, who beat Kathryn Waught, now with Chester-le-Street, by five seconds. Third-placed Claire Smallwood, the new Durham Pine North-East Harrier League champion, took third place to lead Jarrow and Hebburn to victory in the team race.

Senior Men (4 x 2.2m): 1 Morpeth A (M Morris 10.41, C O'Connell 10.53, T Ranger 10.28, R Holladay 10.37) 42 mins 39 secs; 2 Sunderland A (M Hood 10.42, R Kemp 10.43, L Browell 10.36, T Field 10.39) 42.40; 3 Morpeth B 42.52; 4 Sunderland B 45.28; 5 Gateshead 45.52. Fastest times: 1= S Hepples (Loftus) & I Hollingsworth (Wallsend) 10.26; 3 T Ranger (Morpeth A) 10.28.

Veteran men: 1 Sunderland A (R Rush 11.36, K Elliott 12.21, J watson 11.50, S Coxon 11.17) 47.04; 2 Morpeth A (L Atkinson 11.08, G Dixon 12.01, A Jenkins 12.02, G McDougall 11.56) 47.07; 3 North Shields Poly 47.43; 4 Tynedale 48.08; 5 Wallsend 48.18. Fastest times: R Hand (Durham City) 10.32; 2 S Parr (Gateshead) 10.51; 3 L Atkinson 11.08.

Under-17 Men (2.2m): 1 C Parr (Gates) 10.38; 2 P Hutton (Gosforth) 10.52; 3 C Lamb (Chester-le-Street) 10.58; 4 K Wilson (Morp) 11.02; 5 A Harvey (Gates) 11.12. Teams: 1 Gateshead 15; 2 North Shields Poly 27; 3 Morpeth 32.

Under-15 Boys (2.2m): 1 N Shrubb (Morp) 11.08; 2 A Holliday (Trafford) 11.17; 3 S Stewart (Tynedale) 11.47; 4 J McCrerie (Sund) 11.50; 5 L Timmins (Gosf) 11.53.

Under-13 Boys (3 x 1.25m): 1 Birtley A (M Docherty 7.16, G Docherty 7.40, R Cunningham 7.26) 22.24; 2 Gosforth A (J Cook 7.09, P Leonard 7.45, S Findlay 8.11) 23.05; 3 Morpeth A 23.29; 4 Elswick A 23.48; 5 St Cuthbert's School A 23.58.

Senior/Under-17 Women (2.2m): 1 A Dickie (Morp) 12.01; 2 K Waugh (Chester-le-Street) 12.06; 3 C Smallwood (Jarrow and Hebburn) 12.09; 4 B taylor (Darlington) 12.30; 5 C Wickham (Gates, U17) 12.39. Vet: H Robinson (ClS) 12.43. Teams: 1 Jarrow and Hebburn 23; 2 Elswick 41; 3 Morpeth 47.

Under-15 Girls (1.25m): 1 S Crowe (Elswick) 7.21; 2 E Nesbitt (Morp) 7.32; 3 M Ferrier (Gates) 7.55; 4 C Gilmore (Gates) 7.57; 5 R Forster (J&H) 7.59. Teams: 1 Gateshead 14; 2 Elswick 29.

Under-13 Girls (1.25m): 1 S Duffy (Gates) 8.01; 2 L Rawlings (Blaydon) 8.02; 3 L Smith (Gosf) 8.19; 4 A Bell (J&H) 8.22; 5 S Crowell (J&H) 8.23. Teams: 1 Gateshead 18; 2 Blaydon 22; 3 Jarrow and Hebburn 27