FAST-IMPROVING Darlington teenager Barry Stephenson proved too strong and quick for his older rivals as he scored his first major road race victory in the Bydales 10k, the opening event in New Marske Harriers Grand Prix 2001 series.

The Quakers athlete, an eye-catching runner-up to Great Britain international Mike Openshaw in last weekend's Mandale Harriers 12-mile beach race, managed to break clear of the host club's Stuart Dickinson, third in last month's Redcar half marathon, and went on to win by an emphatic 41 seconds in 31 min. 54 sec.

Stephenson, a student at Loughborough University, has emerged as one of the region's most promising young athletes since first making his mark by winning the Durham County Schools senior boys 3,000m track championship.

He was 15th in this year's English National Cross Country Championships junior men's race at Durham and has been highly-placed in North-East road races - fourth in the St Peter's 10k in Sunderland, fifth in the Billingham Ray Harrison Memorial 10k and seventh in the Darlington 10k.

But this was his first significant road race victory in a big field enhanced by the shortage of competition following the foot and mouth crisis, which forced race organisers to switch the event from a ten-miler.

Third, and first Over-40 was Hartlepool Burn Road's newly-crowned North Yorkshire and South Durham Harrier League veteran men's champion Ian Cook, who was only nine second behind Dickinson.

Double World Veterans Championships gold medallist Sheila Allen, returning to racing after injury, won the women's races by over a minute from Hartlepool's Tracey Waller in an fast time of 37 mins 14 secs.

Results - Senior Men (10K): 1 B Stephenson (Quakers) 31 mins 54 secs; 2 S Dickinson (New Marske) 32.35; 3 I Cook (Hartlepool Burn Road V40) 32.44; 4 D Wyatt (Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade) 33.05; 5 M Armstrong (HBR) 33.12; 6 T Livingston (NM V40) 33.20; 7 P Kelly (HBR V40) 33.47; 8 S Bailey (HBR V40) 34.40; 9 M Siddall (Pocklington V40) 34.45; 10 A Haynes (ERYRIV40) 34.54. V50 M Frostick (HBR) 37.35; V60 S Edwards (NM) 41.33.

Women (10K): 1 S Allen (Houghton and Peterlee V35) 37.14; 2 T waller (HBR) 38.24; 3 J Atkinson (Quakers) 39.42; 4 S Milburn (Newton AycliffeV35) 41.02; 5 S Gayter (NM V35) 43.44

* Teesside-based Gateshead Harrier Barry O'Brien completed a hat-trick of senior men's victories, winning the 100m (11.4 secs), 200m (23.3) and 400m (50.7) in wet and windy condition at the Mandale Harriers Cyril Elliott Memorial Meeting at Clairville Stadium, Middlesbrough.*l Shaking off a bout of glandular fever, Olympic 800 metres bronze medallist Kelly Holmes secured an early 31st birthday present on Saturday by winning the Compaq three kilometres race at Balmoral Castle.

The former Army sergeant is determined to battle on for a few more at international level despite being dogged by illness and injury.

Holmes is hoping her career will blossom again this year at the world championships in Edmonton over 800m and possibly 1,500m.

But Holmes knows she must avoid the injuries which have thwarted her major championship ambitions since arriving on the international scene in 1993.

Certainly Paula Radcliffe, who was outsprinted by arch-rival Gete Wami of Ethiopia in their Compaq five mile clash at the Scottish venue, does not doubt Holmes' intentions.

She said: ''There's no-one braver. You have to admire her determination and toughness.''

And Holmes, who overcame Achilles and calf injury to clinch her medal in Sydney, admitted yesterday's performance was an important way to begin the season.

''I couldn't believe it,'' she said after crossing across the Balmoral finishing line in nine minutes 25 seconds.

''I'll stick to the 800 after this that hurt me, it felt like a marathon. I wasn't sure if I would even have finished before the race started.''

But that she did was a huge relief not for the victory but the fact she may have finally shaken off an attack of glandular fever which threatened again to wreck her summer's track preparations when raising its head in South Africa a month ago.