- The annual event sees dozens of racers chase a seven-pound Double Gloucester cheese down Cooper’s Hill, a steep hill near Gloucester in southwest England. The race has been held on Cooper’s Hill since at least 1826.
- Dozens of people also took part in a safer, slower uphill version of the race, traditionally held on a national holiday in late May.
- In the nearby town of Tetbury, participants carried sacks of wool weighing up to 60 pounds up and down Gamstall Hill. The Tetbury Woolsack Race has been held since 1972.
Dairy-loving daredevils cast aside discretion on Monday as they took part in one of Britain’s most extreme annual events: cheese rolling.
Cheered on by thousands of spectators, reckless racers raced down the nearly vertical Cooper’s Hill near Gloucester in southwest England in pursuit of a seven-pound Double Gloucester Cheese. The first racer to finish behind the fast-rolling cheese in each race would win it.
The race has been held at Cooper’s Hill, about 100 miles west of London, since at least 1826, but the sport of cheese rolling is thought to be much older than that.
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The intense sport is rife with safety concerns: Few competitors can stand for the entire 200-yard climb.
This year’s hill was particularly slippery and muddy after recent rain, and members of the local rugby club lined up at the bottom to catch any competitors who fell.
Tom Kopke from Munich, Germany, won one of the three men’s races and said attitude was more important than technique.
Participants will take part in the annual cheese rolling on 27 May 2024 at Cooper’s Hill in Brockworth, England. (Jacob King/PA via The Associated Press)
“Once you start, the adrenaline kicks in and you just keep going,” Kopke said.
“Look at this competition, look at these hills,” added the muddy and out of breath winner. “England is mad. I love it.”
Local riders Josh Sheppard and Dylan Twiss from Perth, Australia, won the final two men’s downhill races, while Abby Lampe from North Carolina won the women’s race with a lightning-fast run that left her competitors far behind.
“You just have to hang in there,” said Lampe, a North Carolina State graduate who also won the tournament in 2022. “It’s a little bit painful, but it’s temporary.”
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Dozens of children and adults also took part in a safer, slower but no less strenuous uphill version of the race, traditionally held on a national holiday in late May.
In the town of Tetbury, about 20 miles away, competitors carried sacks of wool weighing up to 60 pounds and raced up and down the steep 240-yard course of Gamstall Hill.
The Tetbury Woolsack Races have been held in the historic wool-trading town since 1972, continuing local traditions that date back to the 17th century.
