WHILE the course may have changed for the third time in four years, the Tynedale Jelly Tea race remains a firm favourite with North-East runners.

The event, the crown jewel of local running club Tynedale Harriers, again attracted strong runners from the region as it reverted to an 'out and back' from Ovingham.

After two years at the hill riddled Hexham Racecourse, the event took on part of its traditional route, and was a big hit with the 100 plus participants on the day.

Sparrow Morley, of Tyne Bridge Harriers, is a name well-known throughout the region, and he again demonstrated why as he smashed the 10-mile course in a time of just 59 minutes and 33 seconds (59:33).

Joseph Woods (59:45), of Blyth Running Club, wasn't too far behind in the runners-up spot, while third place belonged to impressive South African runner Gerda Steyn (1:00:08), who reclaimed her title from 2016 as fastest female runner.

Sunderland Harrier Alice Smith (1:05:24) was second and Lorna Macdonald (1:06:22), of Morpeth Harriers, was third.

There were also plenty of local runners taking to familiar roads, with four Stocksfield Striders among the crowd.

Danny Gilholme (1:19:55) returned to participate in the event after three years out, missing both times it was at the racecourse, and he was pleased to dip under one hour and 20 minutes a retirement function the night before!

He said: "I did the old version from Egger, in Hexham, to Ovingham, and it is similar terrain, probably the same amount of climbing and probably the same amount of exhaustion at the end!

"But it is a great event and it's great to see so many people out and running these days, and events like this encourages that.

"There's 84 people at Stocksfield Striders and we are going from strength to strength, from beginners at couch to 5k and it's just good to get people active and off the couch."

The jelly tea run was the first experience of a Tynedale run for Allen Valley Striders newcomer Andrew Yarnold (1: 10:46) who recently relocated to Hexham from Cambridge.

He was one of three from the club to take part, and he enjoyed the route as he managed to put his training to good use.

He said: "I only joined Allen Valley Striders three months ago and they train a lot on the hills, so this was relatively flat compared to some of the runs we do!

"We usually do a 10 mile run on Sunday mornings so this was instead of that, and I definitely recommend it. I managed to get a decent time, so it's challenging but not too challenging."