WACKIEST EVENT EVER! Cooper’s Hill Cheese Roll
Taking extreme sports to the EXTREME is what the Brits can stake their claim to. And, if you come away without breaking any bones, not having anything to reattach, or bloodless, then you're not doing it right.
This is the Cooper’s Hill Cheese Roll.
From the country that also brings us Bog Snorkeling, this annual event draws entrants (not to be confused with competitors) from around the world. All to chase a wheel of cheese down a near-vertical 200-yard-long rugged hill.
RUNNING FOR THE CHEESE
Here's how it works. With participants at the starting line, they wait for a 9-pound wheel of cheese to be hurled down the hill. Within one second the cheese-chase is on as their target is traveling at speeds of up to 70 mph.
Spectators are surely treated to the newest gymnastics moves as the bottom of the hill looms.
If you are lucky enough to make it to the bottom still breathing and able to move, capturing the cheese roll is your grand prize.
Others are greeted by members of the local rugby club who stand at the bottom of the hill to act as human brakes for out-of-control cheese chasers by tackling them and, mercifully, there are medics on standby too to help clean up the slaughter.
MEET THE 2023 WINNERS*
Canadian contestant Delaney Irving, 19, won the women’s race despite being briefly knocked unconscious.
Matt Crolla, 28, from Manchester in northwestern England, won the first of several men’s races.
*Provided by Associated Press
Can you believe this has been happening for hundreds of years? Held annually in the village of Brockworth near Gloucester in England.
THE GRAND PRIZE
Back to the prize for the winner. If you get to the bottom first and you’re still alive, you go home with a delicious, nine-pound wheel of double Gloucester cheese that may be covered in grass and mud.