TEESSIDE’S Olympic Games race-walker Johanna Jackson is chasing a new British 20K record in tomorrow’s Commonwealth Games Trials in London.

The 25-year-old Middlesbrough and Cleveland Harrier, a former North-East junior cross country champion, will automatically qualify for all this year’s major championships if she can win in Victoria Park and bring down her own mark of 91 mins 16 secs to below the European Championships standard of 91:15.

Jackson has established herself as Britain’s top racewalker since deciding to concentrate on the sport eight years ago and has competed in the Olympic Games, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Now she has her sights set on taking part in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, the World Cup in Mexico and the European Championships in Barcelona – stepping stones towards the London Olympics in 2112.

Jackson, who is now based at the National Race Walking Centre in Leeds, has been in sparkling form this year, setting a British 10K record of 43 mins 52 secs in Coventry last month and finishing fourth in a world-class 20K field in Lugano, Switzerland a week later.

Jackson, who beat the two athletes above her in the Commonwealth rankings while training and competing in Australia during the winter, has a realistic chance of winning her first medal in a major competition in Delhi.

■ Coventry-based former Blaydon Harrier Matt Armstrong won the North Tyneside 10K in 31 mins 29 secs, beating Morpeth’s Michael Morris by 36 seconds. Chesterle- Street’s Angela Hibbs won the women’s title in 36 mins 35 secs, finishing 25 seconds clear of Wallsend’s Danielle Hodgkinson.

■ South Shields Harriers stage their fifth Sand Dancer 10K multi-terrain race along cliff paths tomorrow. The race, which has attracted a record entry of 200 runners, incorporates the North-East Veterans’ Championship. Late entries will be accepted at the Gypsies Green Stadium.