The annual Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling festival is everything a sporting event should be: No commercial-breaks. No billboards. No cheerleaders. No overpriced tickets. No overpaid prima donas. Just 15 competitors going hell-for-leather in nature's stadium for the glory of victory*. Plus there's the can't-look-but-can't-look-away thrill when viewing potentially serious injuries. It's sport for the purist.
Chris Crichton, Sean Reardon, M-A and myself drove to Oxford on the Sunday morning, and spent the night in the finest accommodation that £15 per night can buy. On Monday morning we drove out to Gloucester, and parked in the paddock converted to parking-lot for the day.
The BBC's footage of the day's races can be seen here. Growing up, every year I would see the race on Nine's Wide World of Sports on a Saturday morning, but the footage doesn't convey just how steep the hill is. It is difficult to even stand on as a spectator, and the competitors in the uphill races were frequently brought to a complete stop. Not that the gradient was sufficient to deter competitors.
There are 5 downhill races, each with 15 competitors. Competitors queue to race, and the queue was still going strong after the 5th official race had been run. Sean was among the ranks missing out on the official races, competing instead in one of the unofficial events (unofficial = no prizes on offer). The number of people desperate to throw themselves down a hill for no possible reward is interesting. Particularly given the significant risk of injury. The first race of the day's winner's victory came at a cost; He was taken away in an ambulance after injuring his neck - which likely occurred when he landed on it. A significant proportion of the competitors seemed to be fellow antipodeans - I'll leave it to you to decide whether that makes us courageous or insane.
See here for the days results and some good shots.
Like I said, sport for the purist!
