THE year 1981 was a big one for North-East athletes, none more so than Elswick Harriers member Mike McLeod.

At 29-years-old, McLeod had won just about every race on the regional circuit, including the Morpeth to Newcastle road race and the Saltwell Harriers 10k road race.

However, 1981 would bring new challenges to the Northumberlandborn runner and first off was the inaugural Blaydon Race, the inspiration of Dr James Dewar of Blaydon Harriers, which would see participants run 5.9miles from Newcastle to Blaydon via the famous Scotswood Road on June 9.

McLeod won in a time of 26:27 to become the first name on the illustrious race’s roll of honour and he added the title of the first ever winner of the Great North Run 18 days later to further cement his reputation as one of the best athletes the region has produced.

From the race’s early years when around 250 athletes took part, McLeod continued to dominate despite the entry number rising up to four figures and he would reappear on the winners’ list another six times over the next 23 years, including a run of three consecutive wins from 1992. His fastest win came in 1989 when he finished in 25:24.

In between his Blaydon Race successes, McLeod also starred on the biggest stage in athletics when he competed at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, winning silver in 10,000 metres.

In the women’s section, the Blaydon race also provided a platform for Hexham-born Jill Hunter, who went on to represent Great Britain in the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, where she picked up silver in the 10,000 metres.

Before her success on the international stage, Hunter rose to prominence as part of Blaydon Harriers when she finished second at the 1988 UK world cross country trial, but before that a remarkable run of four consecutive wins at the Blaydon Race from 1985 would stand her in good stead and to date, no one has managed to beat her record.