Last updated 11:58, Thursday, 11 September 2008

• View more pictures...

Black Combe Runners at Grasmere TONY GREENBANK REF: 0446901

THE 158th Grasmere Sports lived up to its reputation of cut-throat competition as athletes battled for honours in a manner worthy of the Beijing Olympics.
A bumper crowd of approximately 10,000 attended the event on Sunday.
A unique event this year was a link with the Flying the Flag London 2012 ceremony to mark the Olympic handover from Beijing to London in four years time.
Grasmere Sports was chosen by South Lakeland District Council to be area representative, while spectators watched the live ceremony taking place on the other side of the world on the big screen in the arena, via satellite link.
The Olympic 2012 flag was raised on the flagpole at the time of the handover after being spectacularly flown down from the mountain by a paraglider.
Two young athletes from Ulverston and Grasmere – Kim Little, 14, and Thomas Maloney, 12 – were among the party carrying the flag across the arena.
Fell running doyen Peter Bland had again offered a £500 cash prize to any runner who broke the record in the Senior Guides Race set by Vickers draughtsman Fred Reeves in 1978.
Staveley runner Rob Jebb came very close, notching his seventh Senior Guides win, but just failed to make the cut, only seconds out from the elusive 12 minutes and 21 seconds benchmark. It was a magnificent try and the crowd rose as one when he entered the arena – well in the lead – to the sound of the Adamson Military Band playing Hail The Conquering Hero.
His partner Sharon Taylor, who is also a Senior Guides winning fell runner, this time competed in the Mountain Bike Dash up the lower slopes of Butter Crag and met with her usual success. She won the women’s class, while Barrow rider Michael Newton from Hawcoat took the junior prize.
Ulverston runner Tom Doyle, of Ainslie Street had high hopes of winning the Under-17s Guides Race after recent local fell race wins – including the Flan Race in Ulverston and Broughton Mills Race up and down Stickle Pike.
But his main rival Tom Sessford, from Skipton, had other ideas, and won by a handsome margin.
The Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling had a series of hard-fought battles, and there were huge shouts through the glorious day from the crowd on tiered seating around the ring.
Roger Robson, president of the Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling Association, paid tribute to the wrestling performances of the day. In particular he praised John Harrington, of Bewaldeth, who won the 12-stone Grasmere championship.
“It was marvellous wrestling,” he said. “He was wrestling a competitor called Mael Dugue from Breton in the final who is a very clever wrestler. The Cumbrian has to be ahead of the game in every move, and his final throw was a masterpiece – a ‘swing and twist back over’.”
One highlight was that Grasmere Sports Bellman, Tucker Mason, originally from Bootle, was back in the ring after an absence due to ill health. He started and finished the proceedings in the traditional way – by ringing Grasmere Sports in with his handbell.

Don't forget to visit our photosales site