ENGLAND: Cheese rolling - the annual cheese rolling event at Cooper's Hill

Contestants race downhill for a rolling cheese without serious injury. Brave runners risked their necks on Monday (May 30) as they chased a rolling cheese down a hill in a traditional contest. The Cheese Rolling at Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, Gloucestershire is an old custom which may be ancient. It was documented in 1836 but is thought to be part of an old fertility rite celebrating Spring and Summer. The cheese rolling competition is held every year on Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, Gloucestershire. The object is to catch the rolling cheese but as it travels as fast as a car the prize is given to whoever reaches the finish line first. The winner of the chase gets to keep the prize of a seven to eight pound Double Gloucester cheese. Second place gets you ten pounds sterling (18 U.S. dollars) and third five pounds (9 U.S. dollars). Thousands of spectators pack the areas on both sides of the hill to watch the fun. First the master of ceremonies signals for the cheese to be released and then three seconds later the runners are unleashed. Organiser Richard Jefferies said the secret was to lean back as you descend the hill to avoid tumbling out of control. Jason Crowther from Pembrokeshire won the first of the four races, declaring he had "gone faster than everybody else, bounced better than everybody else" to reach the finish line first. Asked if he ached, he said "not today, tomorrow I will." Chris Anderson who lives in Brockworth crossed the finish line first in race two and promptly had to be treated for a sprained ankle that he had sustained at the top of the hill. The 17-year old was strapped into a stretcher by the first aid nurses and taken to hospital still holding his prize cheese. Dione Carter from Auckland, New Zealand won the woman's event for the second year in succession. Dione, who works as a children's nanny, artfully controlled her tumbling so as to beat the opposition over the finish line. Aaron Walden, aged 18, from Gloucester won the last of the four races in impressive fashion. The organisers declared the 2005 contest one of the safest on record. Only three people broke bones; two fractured ankle and an arm, although there were numerous sprains and bruises. Spectators viewed the races from safety behind crash barriers, and stewards kept the audience at a safe distance. Teams of first aiders from the St John's Ambulance service were waiting at the bottom of the hill in case of injury. They were joined by a Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters (SARAID) team ready for emergencies. The races have not always been so safe. Last year 40 people were treated for injuries and in 1997 the event had to be cancelled after many people were treated for bad injuries - including seven spectators hit by the cheeses.

ITN Source | May 30, 2005

Tags:. .chased. .audience. .emergencies. .barriers. .although