{"id":27216,"date":"2021-03-12T18:00:48","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T18:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seeker.io\/?p=27216"},"modified":"2021-03-12T18:00:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T18:00:48","slug":"gloucester-cheese-roll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seeker.io\/article\/gloucester-cheese-roll\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to Chasing Cheddar at the Gloucester Cheese Roll"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There I crouched<\/em>, on what seemed to be the edge of oblivion. My friend Nicko was beside me, though he seemed half a world away. My eyes focused into tunnel vision, seeing meadow, more meadow, then empty space. Complete and absolute nothingness. Sloping down at an absurd angle, the meadow left only air where in a normal world, in a fair world, it would\u2019ve remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The voice of the starter was muffled, engulfed by the sound of my heartbeat thumping in my eardrums. But his gun cut straight through. My senses sharpened. Blurred shapes transformed into bodies and began to move toward the edge. I moved with them, carried forth by a 50-strong crowd of imbeciles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gloucester Cheese Roll: the Event<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1000 Words \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Gloucester Cheese Roll, officially Cooper\u2019s Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake, is a thing of legend \u2013 the perennial focus of SportsCenter Top 10 countdowns, documentary crews<\/a>, and collectors of offbeat experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Held annually in the hilly outskirts of Gloucester<\/a>, England on Whit\/Pentecost Monday<\/a> (between mid-May and early June), the Cheese Roll is older than local recorded history. The first written description of the event, in 1826, made it obvious that the madness had already been going on for a long while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed origin stories vary, though none are backed by much evidence. Some say the Ancient Romans were the first to hurl things down the hill from a fort formerly found at the top. Others declare it a pagan ritual to celebrate the end of the long English winter. Others still say it was originally used as a means to maintain grazing rights over the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern interpretation of the event is somewhat less practical. For some, it\u2019s a chance to dip their hats to those who have gone before, but the overwhelming majority are motivated by nothing more than adrenaline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1000 Words \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As if shot out of a cannon<\/em>, the Double Gloucester was long gone, appearing to gather more speed than it would\u2019ve in pure freefall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw Nicko ahead, already tipping face first into the ridiculously angled pasture. I began on my arse, sliding down slowly, before realising that the only thing more painful than throwing myself down a cliff dressed as a hill was to come last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got to my feet and began a careful jog. One step later I found myself in a gallop, the next a sprint, and by the third my legs couldn\u2019t keep up. I leaned into the fall, springing off the hill, and tucking into a forward roll that I hoped would see me landing on my back rather than my forehead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gloucester Cheese Roll: the Rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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flickr\/musagulec<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A 4kg\/9lb disc of Double Gloucester is carefully prepared in the weeks leading up to the event, handpicked by experts and wrapped tightly in cloth to ensure structural integrity and maximum speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t an organised event because no one wants to claim liability for it. This means that there are no tickets, timers, or registration booths. Anyone can rock up on the day, perch themselves atop the hill, then toss themselves off it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cheese is given a one second head start before a bunch of brave idiots are granted the opportunity to catch it. With the 50% gradient helping the cheese reach speeds of up to 110kph\/70mph, you\u2019d be right in thinking that it\u2019s yet to be caught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

50 or so entrants generally take part in each 200 yard race, of which there are usually four on the day: three for the men and one for the women. This makes sense given that males are three times more stupid than females, scientifically speaking<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gloucester Cheese Roll: the Risk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1000 Words \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1997 no fewer than 33 people were treated for injuries after one particularly messy race. Nothing terminal, but broken bones aplenty. The following year the event was put on hold, a decision that left cheese-rolling enthusiasts fuming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health and safety concerns saw it cancelled again in 2009, but this time the locals decided they\u2019d hold an informal one anyway. \u201cNo one’s going to stop us doing it. They say it’s not official, but we are all [Gloucester] people, and we’re running the cheese today, so it is<\/em> official,\u201d proclaimed former winner, Helen Thorpe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many ways the event has gone back to its traditional roots, although recent years have seen it bending ever so slightly to modernity. A local rugby team patrols the foot of the hill, gently tackling anyone carrying enough inertia to hit the fence 10 metres from the base. In 2013, the disc of dairy seriously injured a spectator, which saw it temporarily replaced with a foam replica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in all, the Cheese Roll has been made as safe as such a daft event can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Khun Ta \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After either two seconds or a lifetime<\/em>\u2014 I couldn\u2019t decide which\u2014I was almost at the finish line. Using a combination of luck and technique, I\u2019d made my way through the chasing pack. Just the final sprint remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A word of advice for potential cheese chasers: Cooper\u2019s Hill flattens out a little at the bottom, and after flying down a 50% gradient you might see the final section of the slope as flat land. It is not<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got to my feet and started running, leaning forward for maximum speed. I quickly realised my mistake. In trying to stay upright I simply extended the act of falling on my face over 20 metres. By the time I did fall it wasn\u2019t into earth, but into the knee of a hulking rugby player at the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooper\u2019s Hill had drawn my blood in the most embarrassing way possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gloucester Cheese Roll: the Reward<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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ComposedPix \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My head was still ringing<\/em> as it hung over my pint at The Victoria Inn<\/a>, one of the traditional post-race rehydration points. I was bruised, bleeding, broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I chose to ignore the outward wear and tear, instead focusing on the heady mix of adrenaline and pride still coursing through my veins. From a field of 50, I\u2019d managed to fall over the line (and into knees) in eighth place. It was one of the more stupid things I\u2019d done, but somewhere between teetering at the top of the abyss and crashing at the bottom, a fire had been awakened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLiving life on the edge is great,\u201d it seemed to say, \u201cbut throwing yourself off is even better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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flikr\/mikewarren<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n