THERE will be plenty of Furness competitors and spectators heading to Grasmere on Sunday for one of Lakeland’s great sporting events with a history stretching back to the Victorian era.

This year’s Grasmere Sports, at Stock Lane, has events from 10am – ranging from track athletics and hound trails to fell racing and Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling.

Back in 1999 the Ulverston junior fell runner Chris Doyle added the Grasmere under-14 guide race to his growing list of victories.

The member of Barrow and Furness Striders was well clear on the rapid descent of 966ft Butter Crag and was cheered on by a crowd of up to 15,000.

Ireleth’s John Atkinson won the senior guides race on the fells at the 1989 Grasmere Sports with Ulverston’s Andrew Myers winning the junior race.

At just nine, Stephen Thomason, of Ulverston, was the youngest to complete the tough fell race course.

The shock of the day 30 years ago was the defeat of Greenodd’s world champion Julian Bevans in the early rounds of the wrestling, after picking up an injury.