GREAT Britain international Ryan McLeod - son of former Olympic 10,000m silver-medallist Mike McLeod - won the inaugural Stan Long Mile at Gateshead Harriers' Tartan Games.

The event, which will be staged annually at Gateshead International Stadium in memory of the leading North-East coach, who guided Olympian Brendan Foster to the world athletics stage and encouraged a host of Tyneside youngsters, attracted some of the region's best young middle-distance runners and featured pace-makers in a bid to generate a fast time.

But 20-year-old Gateshead Harrier Chris Parr was the only runner to go with the pace-makers and after leading into the home straight was swallowed up by the pursuing pack, with 21-year-old McLeod winning in 4 mins 13.38 secs from Chester-le-Street's Tom Settle (4:13.95, with Shaun Moralee, of Durham City Harriers, in third place (4:14.01. Parr finished fourth in 4:15.58.

Exciting teenage sprinter Yusuf Aliu, the North-East Under-17 100m champion, chose to test himself in the senior sprints against another Teesside-based athlete, the Sudanese-born Northern champion Rabah Yusuf.

Yusuf, who won over 200m and 400m representing British Athletics League club Border Harriers in the North-East Championships, scored a comfortable double, winning in 11.07 secs and 22.3 secs. But Aliu made his presence felt, finishing runner-up in the 100m in 11.13 secs and third in the 200m (22.88 secs).

Two other Teesside athletes won gold medals in the field events, North-East junior gold-medallist Ade Babtunde winning the triple jump by nearly three metres with a clearance of 13.20m, while Middlesbrough Mandale clubmate Leslie Richards, the North-East senior champion, won the discus with a throw of 50.14m. Ian Burns, of the host club, threw 61 metres exactly to win the senior javelin.

l Newton Aycliffe Athletic Club is launching a special programme to attract youngsters to the sport - with an eye to the 2112 London Olympics.

The initiative - Target 2012 - is aimed at boys and girls between the ages of eight and 15, and will cover all aspects of the sport.

Youngsters will get the chance to try their hand at running, throwing and jumping at four special sessions, supervised by qualified coaches, at the Shildon 2000 stadium on September 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd starting at 5.45pm and finishing at 6.30pm.

All children will be welcome to attend the sessions at the Sunnydale Leisure Centre, Shildon, but the organisers insist that under-11s should be accompanied by an adult.

One of the organisers, Paul Harker, a level three coach, said: "We want as many youngsters as possible to come along and possibly develop an interest in athletics.

"There is no charge for the sessions and hopefully we can find some new talent in the area and channel it in the right direction.

"The London Olympics are a long way off, but who knows, we might even uncover a future North-East Olympian."

Harker, 49, who was five-times North-East 1500m champion and winner of the inaugural Darlington 10K road race, added: "We just want the youngsters to come along and try the sport - if they enjoy it they might want to join a club and take their interest further."

Further details about the sessions can be obtained from Harker (01325 300058) and Mick Beadle (07971849866).

* Durham City Harriers host their popular cross country relays at Maiden Castle next Wednesday night (7pm).