THOUSANDS of youngsters donned their trainers yesterday to stride out in the biggest schools' cross country event in England.

Nearly 3,000 children from 121 primary schools across County Durham tackled courses of 1,000 or 1,500 metres in eight mass participation races.

The ninth annual Durham County Schools' Cross Country Festival involved youngsters of both sexes and all abilities, aged seven to 11, at Meadowfield, near Durham.

But the emphasis was on fun rather than winning and everyone left with a certificate, plus an entry form for the Junior Great North Run.

The junior event takes place on the Newcastle/Gateshead quaysides, via the Millennium and Swing bridges, on Saturday, September 20, on the eve of the Great North Run.

Festival organiser Alan Duff, of Durham County Council's PE advisory unit, said yesterday's event was bigger in terms of numbers than the Junior Great North Run.

"This must have been just about the biggest ever turn-out. It wasn't only that we had so many runners, but the number of spectators was huge, perhaps because of the dry, sunny weather.

"There were mams and dads, grandparents and parent-support volunteers, and it helped to make it a really special event."

Apart from his own staff in the PE advisory unit, Mr Duff thanked school meals' provider Scholarest, which supplied refreshments for the competitors, and members of Durham Sixth Form Centre's community sports' leaders team, who acted as race marshalls and officials.

Mr Duff was also grateful to the police for helping to deal with the traffic bringing participants to the course, and to the volunteers from St John Ambulance for offering their first aid assistance.