World Stilton Cheese Rolling Championships

Stilton in Cambridgeshire, England is a village for 364 days a year.
But once a year, on May Day, the main street becomes a hive of activity with an event that celebrates the cheese synonymous with its name.
The village gave its name to one of the world’s best-known cheeses, although whether the cheese was originally made or just sold in Stilton is still the subject of much debate!
The Stilton Cheese rolling’s origins are hazy, to say the least, but the frolics of today seem to have been in response to an attempt to revive the trade of the village as its fortunes declined after it was by-passed with a major “A” road back in 1958. This caused local traders hardship and an enterprising landlord came up with the idea of the cheese rolling competition.
The Championships are a knockout competition with heats, quarters, semis, and of course a final. Teams are made up of four competitors and they have to roll and guide a large rounded block of wood, fashioned to look like a Stilton Cheese, instead of the real thing. Each team wears gloves to protect their hands against the tarmac and splinters from the wooden cheese.
At the start of each race, each team member must be touching the cheese. They race with the cheese to the far end of the course, guiding it to ensure it does not go off course, and the team whose cheese knocks the wooden barrier first is deemed the winner. Of course, the wooden cheese is slightly cambered ensuring it doesn’t roll accurately, so the skill is to ensure the cheese is kept on track by good teamwork and a lot of luck. There is also some risk the cheese can suddenly change direction, wrong-footing or tripping the runners as they progress down the course. There are few rules but throwing or kicking the cheese is not permissible.
In the Men’s event is was defending champions ‘The Talbot Royal Rollers’ who saw off a strong challenge from ‘the Stilton Sombreros’ in their final.
In the women’s event, the opposition was overwhelmed by the consistency of ‘Anna’s Girls’ who have won the women’s title on many occasions.
This event does not happen anymore.

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Significantly less dangerous than Gloucestershire! But does the winner get a cheese at the end?