It's just become a recent annual tradition here at TBF, this bizarre and utterly English idea – throwing yourself down a hill in hot pursuit of a piece of cheese - but the annual Gloucestershire "Cheese Rolling and Wake" is a tradition that has been around for hundreds of years.
As we celebrated Memorial Day daring competitors in the UK celebrated a Bank Holiday by racing down Cooper’s Hill near the village of Brockworth in a series of races that drew bundles of spectators. And no wonder. Look at the spills these guys take! There are more EMTs at the bottom of the hill waiting to cart off the injured than there are competitors.
In theory, they are aiming to catch the cheese, but this is virtually impossible. In practice, the first person over the finish line is the winner.
Champion cheese-chaser Chris Anderson, 21, celebrated his fifth consecutive victory in the death-defying event then promptly announced his retirement to devote himself to fatherhood. We can't believe his wife let him have one more go at it. Anderson, a gas station worker, was among 200 competitors risking broken bones to chase the cheeses down the notoriously steep hillside. We congratulate Mr. Anderson as he says farewell to the cheese.
World Cheese Rolling Champion Chris Anderson
Now you are beginning to understand the British. We're all like this - totally bonkers. The trouble for us comes when we start getting beaten at these sports (tiddly-winks, marbles, etc.) by the Dutch and Germans. It's just too much for us to take!
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