SELFLESS school pupils braved the wet weather to join the fight against cancer.

Belle Vue School in Carlisle hosted its first ever Race for Life yesterday, ahead of the adult events taking place in the today and tomorrow.

And despite less than perfect conditions, pupils of all ages were proudly clutching their medals from Cancer Research UK by the end of the day.

With the distance tackled increasing for every age group, all children were encouraged to run, walk or skip at whatever pace they could manage and bore race number plaques on which some wrote the names of loved ones lost to cancer.

Eight-year-old Kian Storey ran in memory of his Granda Bob, Grandma Mary, Uncle Jim and his next-door neighbour.

On finishing his laps of the field, the Year 3 pupil said: “I‘m really happy. My granddad, my grandma, my mum, my dad, my sisters and my aunty and uncle have given me, I think, about £60. It’s very important to me to help raise money for research for cancer.”

Fellow Year 3 pupil, Marcy Dixon, eight, added: “I feel really good that I’ve run for my Nana’s mum. It was quite hard - I‘ve never really run that far.”

Eight-year-old Sonny Doyle, already a member of an athletics club and a keen runner, enjoyed the chance to use his talents for a worthy cause. On his back, he had drawn a picture of Cancer Research science labs, after learning about the work of the charity during a school assembly. Sonny raised sponsorship alongside his younger sister Annie, who ran with her Year 2 class.

The Race for Life kick starts the Belle Vue School sports week, which starts from Monday.

Kelly Rayson, Year 5 teacher and the school’s PE coordinator, said: “It’s a good way of kicking that off but it’s also an amazing charity to raise money for.

“I’m massively proud of them for taking part in something so selfless. This is the first time we’ve done anything like this for a national charity, and hopefully having been involved in something like this will give them a good sense of pride to take away with them.”