NORTH-EAST athletes are likely to be out-gunned by visiting "raiders" chasing top prize money when Britain's oldest road race, the Morpeth-Newcastle, celebrates its centenary tomorrow.

Over 1,200 entries have been received, including those from defending champions Dave Norman (Altrincham) and Andrea Green (Dartford), and other top athletes are expected to collect their numbers on the day.

Organisers are confident the starting line-up will be the biggest for a decade, when the prestigious event was a traditional New Year's Day feature on the road race calendar, and have persuaded sponsors PES Associates to boost the prize money for the centenary run.

There will £500 bonuses for the first British-born male and female runners to cross the line in addition to the £750 first prizes, while five-times winner Jim Alder has donated £100 for the first veteran runner home in the half marathon.

But North-East challengers are expected to be few and far between, with the host club's Terry Wall and Alan Shepherd heading the list of local entries.

Norman faces his biggest threat from newly-crowned Essex cross country champion Dave Mitchinson. Norman won last year's race but he finished behind Mitchinson in last weekend's Great North Cross Country meeting at Newcastle's Exhibition Park and will have his work cut out keeping the Newham and Essex Beagle at bay.

The race starts in Morpeth at 10.30am and finishes on the Great North Road, alongside Newcastle's Town Moor.