Darlington-BORN runners Martin Scaife and Bernadette Taylor scored a unique winning double in the town's big 10K road race yesterday.

Scaife, now with Chester-le-Street AC after starting his athletics career with Darlington Harriers, and Taylor, a life-long member of her home town club, notched up impressive victories after taking early leads in the field of nearly 1,000 competitors.

And both admitted afterwards they had fulfilled life-time ambitions by becoming the first two local winners of the event.

"It's really special winning this one - it's something I've always wanted to do," said 29-year-old Scaife, who was born and raised in Greenbank Road.

Taylor, dedicated her victory to coach Willie Lawson, who, in 14 years, has guided her to England honours and an English Schools Championships 3,000m silver-medal.

Scaife, who has established himself as one of the region's top 10k road racers after a stress fracture of the shin threatened to end his running career 18 month ago, beat off a challenge by Catterick-based Army staff sergeant Rod Leach, who stuck with him like glue in the first half of the race.

But Scaife, who claimed the scalp of ten-times North-East cross country champion Brian Rushworth in the Aycliffe 10K in June, struck decisively after the six kilometre marker to leave the Inter-Services and Army 10,000m and steeplechase champion in his wake.

Scaife won by an emphatic 47 seconds and surprised himself with a time of 30 mins 57 secs after suffering from an ear infection which interrupted his training programme.

Now Scaife is ready to test himself in the big Auckland Castle 10K, when he will be lining up against Kenyan international Julius Kimtai, who is looking for his third consecutive victory a week on Sunday.

The Teesside bakery manager admitted: "I don't expect to be up there with the leaders - I'll be probably hanging on for grim death. "

Leach had no complains about the result. He said: "Martin kept putting in surges and I found it difficult to stay with him. He broke me at 6K and just went away from me."

Taylor went past defending champion Sheila Allen after a mile and kept on going to win by 21 seconds.

Taylor said: "I think this is my best-ever road racing performance and it's an event I've always wanted to win."

Men: 1 M Scaife (Chester-le-Street) 30 mins 57 secs; 2 R Leach (Army) 31.44; 3 S Murdoch (Border M40) 31.59; 4 A Kilding (City of Sheffield) 32.03; 5 S Bell (ClS) 32.12.

Women: 1 B Taylor (Darl) 37.17; 2 S Allen (Houghton and Peterlee W40) 37.28; 3 D Richardson (Quakers) 38.46; 4 C Summersgill (Middlesbrough and Cleveland) 38.49; 5 V Hancock (Dur C W55) 41.00.