What makes thousands of people face a death-defying drop just to take part in the Gloucestershire’s annual cheese rolling races, I don’t know madness I guess. Today that is just what a lot of people did. Not even the Gale force winds and torrential rain could stop them in their tracks. It’s said that Contestants even travel as far as the US, Japan and Australia to take part.

Thousands gathered at Cooper’s Hill in Brock worth to watch the bone-crunching races take place. It was no pain, no gain for a 19-year-old Christopher Anderson, who won the first of five contests. He was carried from the hill on a spinal board after hurting his back as he tumbled past the finish line head over heels.

Every year contestants flip, slide and tumble their way 200 metres down the sheer face in pursuit of a giant runaway circle of cheese. WHY?

Teams of volunteers from the St John Ambulance were on hand to treat the inevitable injuries. It’s said that the tradition of cheese rolling dates back as far as the ancient Britons or the Romans but no-one knows for sure how the race started.

I would love to know why and how this race started so if anyone knows please let us know in the comments box below

What do you think of this race? click here for more information about the winners of today’s event

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