Sunderland Stroller Alyson Dixon has made further progress in her efforts to gain peak fitness for the European Championship marathon in Berlin in just four weeks.
Competing in the Tyne Bridge Harriers Bridges of the Tyne 5, she finished in 10th place overall and beat the second woman to finish by three and a half minutes.
Dixon clocked 27min 47sec for the five miler, which was just 17 seconds slower than her fastest on the course from 2014.
She had been laid low from an inflamed heel bursa since the Commonwealth Games marathon and this was only her second competitive outing since then.
But it was a far better performance than her Lambton Race effort 11 days previously, when she stated it was the hardest 10k she had ever run.
The Bridges of the Tyne race was won by Morpeth Harrier Sam Hancox (25.21), who goes in the Sunderland 5k at Silksworth Sports Complex on Thursday....