This weekend the UK skate scene descended on the historic town of Hastings for an all-out bowl assault for the Battle of Hastings 2017 at the Source Skatepark.

With a turnout of 70 competitors and 100’s of spectators, this was the biggest competition the UK has seen in years.

On the morning of the competition Rune, Sam and Phil headed up to the Boyley Park concrete skatepark on the Hill overlooking the Hastings pier to stretch their legs and warm up for what was to be an action packed event. Unfortunately Phil had recently twisted his ankle and so would not be taking part.

Rune and Sam didn’t hold back on their warmups resulting in a large crowd of onlookers as they tore around the many curves of the concrete bowl, making the most of the great weather before heading underground.

As the morning eased into the afternoon, everyone headed down the hill to the promenade where the journey into to the impressive subterranean Source skatepark began. The day was split up into 4 classes including Women’s, masters and the main Pro/am event, with everyone giving their all to take the top spot.

The main Pro/Am event kicked off with qualifiers which saw a selection the of the best UK transition skateboarders battle it out over 4 heats, with the top qualifier spot going to Sam Beckett with an impressive array of sweeping grinds and gnarly attacks on the ridiculously sized 8ft wall of vert, which up until this weekend had never been hit.

To give the riders some breathing room between the qualifiers and finals, the Masters took to the bowl to show the young guys that age don’t mean a thing. This called up Rune Glifberg, the guest judge, to have a roll. He only dropped in for a few runs but still managed to leave the entire park in awe when he pulled out a stylish rock ‘n’ roll on the 8ft vert wall as if it was nothing, then residing back to his judging position, there’s a reason he has that legend status.

With the crowd more hyped than ever, the Pro/Am finals kicked off. The level of riding was through the roof resulting in a top spot battle between Sam Beckett, Danni Carlson, Sam Pulley, Jake Collins, Alex Halford, Jordan Thackeray, Matt Beer and the guy who no one knew, George Poole.

In the end Sam Beckett’s mix of styled out airs, frontside slashes and vert wall madness resulted in a well-deserved 3rd place slot, with Denmark’s Danni Carlson taking home 1st place and Essex destroyer Jordan Thackeray winning himself a holiday in Greece for the most draw dropping 20 trick run.