Roundhay Park in Leeds will play host to thousands of athletes when it stages the National Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

The venue is acknowledged as one of the best in Britain for an event on this scale.

The climax of the ten-race programme is the men’s race, with an entry list approaching the 3,000 mark. Frank Tickner (Wells) defends his title with Northern champion Steve Vernon (Stockport) expected to challenge strongly.

The women’s race, which includes Paula Radcliffe among its former winners, sees Hallamshire’s Hatti Dean defending her title.

Bingley’s Victoria Wilkinson, impressive winner of last week’s Yorkshire Championship, will be looking to match last year’s performance when she finished 11th.

The start and finish are on Soldiers Field, with the first race getting underway at 11am.