TOM Sedgwick, the Kendal man who dominated the Championship Hill Race from 1968 until 1980, is another with a tale to share.

He won 12 titles in total and was guest of honour at the 157th Games held in Johnstone Park.

The 63-year-old joked that his record might be broken one day as he witnessed fellow Kendal hill runner Alastair Dunn make it eight titles in a row.

He told the Advertiser, "He's got me nervous. But he's a good lad, a nice lad." Tom first attended the Alva Games in 1965 but it wasn't until he turned 18, three years later, that he could take part in the hill race.

He was one of the first athletes to run right to the top of the hill - previously the race was known as the endurance race and only took in about three quarters of the 452m climb.

His last race was, in his own words, a "monster" of a race and featured the current record-holder Kenny Stuart who set the fastest time (18 minutes 39 seconds) a year later in 1981.

It was after the 1980 race that Tom decided to hang up his running shoes at Alva.

He said, "After that race I thought, 'I've done this for 12 years and they could beat me at the other events'. The writing was on the wall then. I was getting older and the kids were coming along and they were racing too. I enjoyed it. They were a great group of guys. They were good times." Tom's grandson, Thomas Marshall proved to be a chip off the old block after he won the under-12 hill race. The Settle Harriers runner finished in 10 minutes 58 seconds.