TYNESIDER Lewis Timmins ran with a broken jaw to help a young Gosforth Harriers trio retain their senior men's title in yesterday's Blaydon Cross Country Relays.

The 18-year-old Northumbria University sports sciences undergraduate, who was assaulted during a visit to Morpeth in September, still has his jaw wired up.

Despite his apprehension before his first competitive outing of the season, he agreed to captain the team.

Running the second leg, he took over a five-second lead from Paul Hutton, but allowed Sunderland's Gavin Massingham to catch him early on the 3.5K circuit. Halfway round, however, Timmins decided to kick away and finished 24 seconds ahead of the Wearsider.

"I wasn't sure how I would run with my jaw wired up so I let him catch me to see how I felt," explained Timmins. "Halfway round I felt fine so I decided to kick and I pulled clear. I was a bit apprehensive but everything went OK."

Timmins clocked 11 mins 30 secs, seventh fastest of the day, and handed over to Matt Nicholson, a Newcastle University graduate, who increased the lead to an emphatic 56 seconds.

Sunderland had to work hard for second place, with Elswick's Great Britain international Ryan McLeod finishing strongly with the second fastest run of the day, 11 mins 7 secs, only four seconds slower than Hutton.

Sunderland retained their veterans' title, beating North Shields Polytechnic by 32 seconds after Tim Field moved from fifth to first on the second leg with the fastest time of 11 mins 54 secs.

Morpeth Harriers won the senior women's relay, beating Tynedale by 1 min 29 seconds, with Delyth James clocking the fastest time for the 3.3K of 13 mins 26 secs.

* The English National Cross Country Championships are to be held at Herrington Country Park, Sunderland, in 2007.