CROFT motor racing circuit was the unusual setting for the first Pitstop 10k road race organised by Darlington Harriers.

The runners had the luxury of a traffic-free course and the almost flat and excellent road surface led to some fast times for the competitors.

Winner was Barry Steph-enson, of the Quakers club. He took the lead shortly after the start and extended it until he crossed the line in the pit lane with a 50-second lead.

Barry was followed by Michael Lamb, second, and Nigel Orr, of the host club, in third place. Kimberley Read, of Darlington Harriers, was the first woman to cross the line with team-mates Bernadette Taylor and Sharon Carbert behind her. Darlington Harrier Richard Smith recorded an emphatic 43-second victory in the Pitstop 2k fun run for young athletes, and fellow Harrier Claire Burnside won the girls' prize.

Pitstop 10k results: 1 Barry Stephenson 32m 31s; 2 Michael Lamb 33-21; 3 Nigel Orr 33-50; 4 Martin Grainger (Darlington) 34-52; 5 Stephen Bailey (Hartlepool Burn Road) 35-10; 6 John Best (Darlington) 35-16; 7 Ian Scott (Quakers) 35-29; 8 Mike Walker (Gosforth Harriers) 36-13: 9 Mick Brunskill (Quakers) 36-45.

10 Michael Frosttrick (Hartle-pool Burn Road) 1st Vet 50 37-15: 11 Ben Wilson (Darlington) 37-33; 12 Keith Wesson 37-54; 13 Hon Lee (Darlington) 38-28; 14 Ronnie Reed (Darlington) 39.04; 15 David Mason (Quakers) 39-06: 16 John Ross (Quakers) 39-39; 17 David Tarren (Quakers) 39-47; 18 Bruce Watson (Quakers) 39-47; 19 Paul Smith (Darlington) 39-58.

20 Michael Wray (Quakers) 40-02; 21 Kimberley Read (Darling-ton) lst woman 40-04; 22 Gavin Spencer 40-16; 23 Peter Smith (Quakers) 40-40; 24 Dave Dobson 40-48, 25 Martin Mullen (Quakers) 40-51, 26 Jeff Dawson 41-22; 27 Joe O'Donnell (Quakers) 41-41; 28 an Hughes (Darlington) 41-50; 29 Bernadette, Taylor (Darlington) 2nd woman 42-02.

30 Sharon Carbert (Darlington) 3rd woman 42-15; 31 Chris White (Hartlepool Burn Road) 42-39; 32 Dave Weston (Darlington) 42-49; 33 David McLachlan (Quakers) 42-57; 34 Kevin Ashworth 43-03; 35 Keith Shevels (Quakers) 43-24; 36 Mick Mullen (Quakers) 43-28; 37 Andrew Clark 43-38; 38 Dave Brown 43-43; 39 Peter Nelson 44-05. 40 Douglas Hopps (Road Runners Club) 45-09. 41 Simon Blood (Quakers) 44-35; 42 Stephen Carberry 45-04; 43 Derek Allan 45-04; 44 Peter Greathead 45-05; 45 Chris Wardell 45-13; 46 Harry Manuel (Quakers) 45-14; 47 Joanne Keenan 45-23; 48 Ken Sams 48-30; 49 Andrew Grey 47-07.

50 Dave Griffith 47-26: 51 Paul Johnson 48-31; 52 Stan Wootten 49-44; 53 Anne Coates 50-00, 54 Alison Peacock-Farrell (Darlington) 54-21; 55 Justine Johnson (Darlington) 54-21;56 Mark Hutchinson 54-51; 57 Tracy Flaming 54-69; 58 Judith Mooney 55-00; 59 Sandra Lee (Darlington) 58-18; 60 Annette Hubery (Darlington) 1st female veteran 55-18; 61 David Waite 59-22; 62 Sharon Sterling 61-37; 63 Pam Metcalf 72-54; 64 Derek Routley 72-54; 65 Jonathan Leer 84-36.

Results 2k Pitstop fun run: 1 Richard Smith (Darlington) 7-14; 2 Alan Carter (Quakers) 7-57; 3 Andrew Smith (Darlington) 7-59; 4 Philip Fitzpatrick 8-13; 5 Marc Smith 8-15; 6 Gary Johnson (Darl-ington) 8-39; 7 Phillip Grainger (Darlington) 8-49; 8 Claire Burn-side (Darlington) 9-06; 9 Jenna Reed (Darlington 9-37); 10 Daniel Mullon (Quakers) 9-40); 11 Carina Mooney 9-41; 12 Neil Chalmers (Quakers) 9-45; 13 Helen Scott 9-59; 14 Simon Carter 10-04.

Elsewhere on the roads, Alison Raw was second women to finish the Burn Valley half-marathon in 1hr 27m. Nigal Orr was seventh in in 1hr 19 and Paul Kely was tenth in 1hr 21m. Harry Singh finished the hilly Potteries Marathon on one of the few hot days of the summer in 4hrs 12m.

More Harriers' results in next week's Advertiser