ALMOST 500 entries have been received for the two-day North- East Track and Field Championships at Gateshead International Stadium this weekend.

The region’s athletics officials are delighted with the upsurge in demand for outdoor competition following a superb turn-out of over 250 enthusiasts in last week’s opening North-East Track and Field League at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow, when entries were up by 20 per cent on last year and close to a record for the first fixture of the season.

The region’s best athletes from all age groups, from under-13s to seniors, will be contesting 146 events at the North-East Championships, which get under way at 10am on each day.

■ Morpeth Harrier Ian Hudspith, who ended a ten-year African domination of the Blaydon Race last year, will make his road-racing return after injury in next weekend’s Middlesbrough 5K before defending his title on Tyneside.

The 39-year-old Newcastle teacher, twice winner of the Middlesbrough Tees Pride 10K, has been out of action for six months, hit by a chest infection and a stubborn Achilles tendon injury, but made a low-key come-back in last weekend’s Parkrun 5K on Newcastle Town Moor, setting a course record of 15 mins 7 secs.

■ Redcar’s Johanna Jackson became the first Briton to win a medal in an IAAF Race Walking Challenge event when she finished third in Sesto San Giovanni, Italy.

The 25-year-old Middlesbrough and Cleveland Harrier, a former North-East junior cross country champion, has already been selected for the England’s Commonwealth Games team to travel to India in October.

She will also compete for Great Britain in the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Chihuahua, Mexico, next weekend.