There’s a Village in England Where People Still Race Down a Hill Chasing Cheese

It sounds like something invented for a comedy sketch.

Every year in Gloucestershire, hundreds of people gather on the side of a steep hill to watch grown adults throw themselves downhill in pursuit of a wheel of cheese.

Welcome to the Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling event, one of Britain’s strangest and most famous traditions.

The event takes place on Cooper’s Hill near the village of Brockworth, just outside Gloucester. The rules are remarkably simple. A wheel of Double Gloucester cheese is released from the top of the hill and given a small head start. Competitors then charge after it, attempting to reach the bottom first.

There is one problem.

The cheese can reach speeds of around 70 miles per hour, meaning nobody is realistically going to catch it. Instead, victory goes to the first person to cross the finish line at the bottom of the hill.

If you’re imagining a gentle jog down a grassy slope, think again.

Cooper’s Hill is around 200 yards long and has an exceptionally steep gradient. Most competitors spend less time running than tumbling, rolling, bouncing and sliding towards the finish. Broken bones, sprains and cuts are not uncommon, and medical teams are always on hand to deal with injuries.

Despite the risks, the event attracts competitors from all over the world. What began as a local Gloucestershire tradition has become an international spectacle, with entrants travelling from countries including the United States, Australia, Germany, Canada and Japan.

Nobody knows exactly when the tradition began.

The earliest known written record dates to 1826, but even at that point it was already described as an old custom. Some historians believe the event could be several centuries older. Various theories suggest it may have originated as a local celebration, a way of marking the arrival of summer, or even a ritual connected to grazing rights on common land. None of these explanations has been conclusively proven.

The prize remains wonderfully British.

The winner receives the very wheel of Double Gloucester cheese that started the race. No trophy. No medal. Just cheese.

The event has become so famous that videos of competitors cartwheeling uncontrollably down the hillside regularly go viral online. For many visitors, the most impressive part is not who wins, but how anyone reaches the bottom in one piece.

In a world filled with carefully planned festivals and polished sporting events, there is something oddly refreshing about a tradition that can be summed up in a single sentence:

A group of people chase a wheel of cheese down a dangerously steep hill and somehow decide it’s a good idea to come back and do it again next year.