GOLDEN OLDIE Brian Rushworth returned from injury and tasted defeat for only the second time in 19 Sunderland Harriers' Penshaw Hill Races.

The 42-year-old Wearside college lecturer, who had been nursing an Achilles tendon injury since competing in the British Masters' Cross Country Championships at the beginning of March, made a late decision to compete in the gruelling event but found himself having to play second fiddle behind 25-year-old Sunderland Stroller Liam Taylor.

Rushworth, who won a record ten North-East cross country championships before joining the veteran ranks, carrying on his unbeaten run in the over-40 section for five consecutive seasons, was unable to catch his younger rival, who also won the prime prize on the climb to Penshaw Monument on the first lap and finished with a 22-second winning margin.

The 17-times winner admitted: "This must have been one of the hardest races I've ever run; I was on my knees coming up the hill to the finish. I was exhausted but I had to give it a go."

Taylor admitted that he kept checking behind on Rushworth.

He said: "I know how good a runner he is so I could never relax.

"But on the last lap I managed to widen the gap and it was then I realised I had the race won."

The women's race was won by Leeds City's Claire Duck, who beat Sunderland Harrier Michelle Holt by 17 seconds, with Durham City's Aiveen Fox in third place a further 12 seconds adrift.