The winner is either the first person to catch the cheese or, more frequently, the first reach the finish line after the wheel, which has been known to reach speeds of up to 70 mph. The winner gets to take home the wheel of cheese.
The event is normally held on the United Kingdom's Spring Bank Holiday, but the 2022 event was moved to Sunday as a result of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.
History
The first printed reference to the cheese rolling race was in a message to the Gloucester Town Crier in 1826, but locals claim they can trace the event back to at least the mid-1700s -- and the tradition is locally believed to be even older, with some suggesting it was started by the ancient Romans, who had a fort on Cooper's Hill.
Local legends hold the origins of the cheese rolling could be tied to maintaining grazing rights or a pagan fertility rite.
The Cooper's Hill Wake -- "wake" being a local word for festival -- formerly featured cheese rolling alongside other events including wrestling matches and shin-kicking competitions. The modern Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake featured only cheese rolling and an uphill race for children to win sweets.
The event was traditionally held on Whit Monday, the day after the Christian Pentacost, but was later moved to the Spring Bank Holiday.
Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake was an officially-sanctioned event until 2010, when the growing popularity of the event due to videos shared on the Internet caused officials to raise concerns about the safety of spectators and the ability of paramedics to reach any injured racers.
The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling races since 2010 have been put on by a group of local volunteers, without official involvement. The 2013 race was run with a fake wheel of cheese, after local cheese maker Diana Smart, who had long provided the double Gloucester for the race, was told she could be liable for injuries. Real cheese returned the following year.
Injuries
Cooper's Hill, bearing a gradient of 50%, is a steep surface for a footrace, leading to a number of injuries each year. Ambulances are often parked at the bottom of the hill, and local volunteers are employed to carry participants who become too injured to reach the bottom of the hill.
Chris Anderson, who has won a record 22 cheese races between 2005 and 2018, has suffered injures including a concussion, bruised kidneys and a broken ankle in his years of cheese chasing. Flo Early, a four-time winner of the women's race whose cheese-chasing career was featured in the Netflix documentary series We Are The Champions, scored a victory in 2018 despite a dislocated shoulder.
The most dangerous year on record, 1997, featured 33 reported injuries ranging from splinters to broken bones. The high total of injuries led police to cancel the 1998 race, but it returned the following year.
2022
Organizers of the 2022 cheese race said on Facebook that they are now sponsored by Witcombe Festival, and this year's cheeses will come from Smart's family business.
The organizers said they are expecting a large turnout, and only 25 people will be allowed to participate in each round of races.
"You must be 18 or over to take part," they wrote on Facebook. "And we advise strongly that you wear suitable clothing and footwear."
The children's uphill race will also be held this year, with the children being escorted on their ascent by the medical team and members of the local rugby club.
"All participants and spectators attend this event entirely at your own risk," the Facebook event states.
