Sunderland Harriers women came out on top in the Ken Jefferson Memorial Farringdon Cross Country Relays on Saturday.
In red hot temperatures, more in keeping for a day on the beach than the winter sport of cross country running, the Wearsiders turned on the heat to dominate the two events.
The senior women and veteran women both enjoyed their first ever relay victories and it was fitting that it should happen at their own event.
Team manager Eddie Maddison said: “It was a real surprise for us to win both events, it was a superb achievement. It just shows how the team has progressed over the last few years. We will be looking to build on this and move onto bigger things.”
The Sunderland senior team came from behind in the three-stage relay over legs of 1.8 miles to win in 34.25 – just nine seconds ahead of Morpeth Harriers with Gosforth third on 34.48. After solid runs from Alice Smith (11.19) and Eve Quinn (11.47), anchor woman Jenna Wilkinson set off in third with much to do in chasing first place.
Just back from Dubai where she has been teaching, she rapidly closed down Gosforth and passed Morpeth within sight of the finish. Her time (11.19) equalled that of Smith to surprise many.
Sunderland also filled fourth place with Michelle Avery (11.50), Lauren Flaxen (12.54) and Haley Dobinson (12.56).