BRITAIN IS NOTED FOR ITS MANY TRADITIONS and observances, such as the Shrove Tuesday pancake races, that date back to medieval times.

One of the most bizarre, and dangerous, of these events is the annual Cheese Chase held in Gloucestershire.  The contest which dates back to the Roman occupation calls for a legion of hardy (or fool-hardy) souls to chase a wheel of cheese down a very steep slope.

An eight-pound wheel of Double-Gloucester cheese is released at the top of the hill and it can achieve speeds of up to 70 mph.  The chasers try to catch it before it reaches the finish line, or at least be the first to cross the line after the cheese reaches it 200 meters below the start.  The winner gets to keep the cheese.

This year’s Cheese Chase was made a little safer by a timely rainfall that softened the ground a bit and lessened the chance of broken bones.  Nonetheless, 19 people were injured and had to be treated by the 30 members of the ambulance squad.  The year with the highest injury rate was 1997 when 33 people were hurt.

This video report shows the winner of the first race being carried off the course on a spine board by the medics:

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed