Cheese, Grommit
Mood:
Rolling Gait
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1516&ncid=1516&e=1&u=/afp/20040531/od_afp/britain_cheese_offbeat_040531205558
Britain's giant cheese race exacts usual toll on bloodied competitors
Mon May 31, 4:55 PM ET
LONDON (AFP) - It is perhaps a mark of Britain's proudly-worn reputation for eccentricity that one of its least-heralded yet highly dangerous sporting events sees competitors risk life and limb in the name of dairy produce.
In all, 21 people were hurt during Friday's annual cheese rolling race at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire, central England, where competitors pelt recklessly down a steep slope in pursuit of a 71 pound (32 kilogramme) cheese.
Each of the four races saw around 20 men and women run -- and then often roll or somersault -- headlong down the hill in pursuit of the double Gloucester cheese, with many walking away bruised and bleeding.
Of the 21 injuries, five were serious, including a broken ankle, concussion and a dislocated shoulder, volunteer medical staff said.
"It was an average number really. It's what we've come to expect. It's mainly cuts and bruises," a spokesman for the St John's Ambulance brigade said.
The rewards for such peril are, of course, minimal.
The winner receives the by-now rather dented cheese, while the runner up gets five pounds (7.5 euros, 9 dollars) and third place secures a princely three pounds (4.5 euros, 5.5 dollars).
Yet modern-day winners can count themselves lucky. From 1941 to 1954, when Britain faced food rationing during and after World War II, competitors raced for a wooden cheese containing just a piece of the real stuff inserted into a small hole.
(Thanks to JedH!)
Britain's giant cheese race exacts usual toll on bloodied competitors
Mon May 31, 4:55 PM ET
LONDON (AFP) - It is perhaps a mark of Britain's proudly-worn reputation for eccentricity that one of its least-heralded yet highly dangerous sporting events sees competitors risk life and limb in the name of dairy produce.
In all, 21 people were hurt during Friday's annual cheese rolling race at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire, central England, where competitors pelt recklessly down a steep slope in pursuit of a 71 pound (32 kilogramme) cheese.
Each of the four races saw around 20 men and women run -- and then often roll or somersault -- headlong down the hill in pursuit of the double Gloucester cheese, with many walking away bruised and bleeding.
Of the 21 injuries, five were serious, including a broken ankle, concussion and a dislocated shoulder, volunteer medical staff said.
"It was an average number really. It's what we've come to expect. It's mainly cuts and bruises," a spokesman for the St John's Ambulance brigade said.
The rewards for such peril are, of course, minimal.
The winner receives the by-now rather dented cheese, while the runner up gets five pounds (7.5 euros, 9 dollars) and third place secures a princely three pounds (4.5 euros, 5.5 dollars).
Yet modern-day winners can count themselves lucky. From 1941 to 1954, when Britain faced food rationing during and after World War II, competitors raced for a wooden cheese containing just a piece of the real stuff inserted into a small hole.
(Thanks to JedH!)
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