adjacent to the long and triple jump area. A height-adjustable water jump, for use in steeplechase racing, is located on the inside of the track. Floodlights allow athletics events to be held at night. The inner track area, which is floodlit, is an IAAF standard-sized grass surface used for athletics field events, rugby and football. When used for the latter, the pitch dimensions are . The main arena is supplemented by other facilities. To the rear of the North Terrace are two third generation artificial pitches that are UEFA licensed, fully floodlit and full-sized for use in competitive rugby, football and American football. Alongside them are two grassed and one sand-dressed playing areas, which are also floodlit. Behind the Tyne and Wear Stand is an indoor sports hall, which contains a playing area marked out for various sports including badminton, netball and tennis. A retractable indoor athletics facility was previously housed alongside the sports hall, consisting of a long synthetic sprint straight and areas for throwing and jumping events, but its mechanical operation proved problematic and a more modern structure replaced it in 2006. This facility has a sprint straight in an hall, throwing and jumping facilities, a weights room and gymnasium. Athletics The first major athletic event held at the stadium was the Vaux Breweries International Athletics meet in July 1961. According to its sponsors, the highlight of this meet was the team three-mile race, won by the Blackpool and Fylde Athletic club who were awarded a gold tankard as their prize. Attracted by a prize fund of £500 and the imminent AAA Championships in London, the event attracted several athletes from New Zealand, including reigning 5000m metre Olympic champion Murray Halberg and Peter Snell, the reigning 800m Olympic champion. Watched by a capacity crowd of 10,000 spectators, the men won their respective races; Halberg placed first in the mile with a time of 4:03:70 and Snell led a New Zealand one-two in the 880-yard event, finishing ahead of teammate Gary Philpott in 1:50:40. When the comprehensive refurbishment of the stadium was completed more than a decade later, Brendan Foster (by this time a Gateshead Council employee) proposed an international athletics meet. On 3 August 1974, the first "Gateshead Games" were staged in front of around 10,000 spectators. Four weeks before he won the European 5000m title at the 1974 European Athletics Championships in Rome, Foster kept his earlier