“Become one with the cheese!”

What do you get when you mix British tradition with modern-day intrigue? Hint: it involves cheese and minor injuries.

“Cheese is all we do. It’s all we’ve ever done,” Antonia of Chris Thomas’ 2019 short film Let’s Roll said to her mother in defense of her decision to compete in her town’s famous cheese roll race down Cooper’s Hill. 

Antonia’s obsession with the race and its glory comes from the legacy of winners within her family tree, but the competition also, as the film suggests, proves to be a kind of calling experienced by a select few — the hill is either of you, or it isn’t. 

Every spring, men and women from around the world journey to the Southern UK town of Gloucestershire to compete in a downhill chase after an eight-pound wheel of cheese. According to BBC, the hill’s slope is a staggering 45 degrees over 200 yards. One cannot “run” so much as “tumble” down it. Assuming one hasn’t been knocked unconscious during the lacerating race (as was Delaney Irving of Canada in 2023), a first-place finish elicits post-race interviews, the cheese wheel itself, and, of course, severe bragging rights. (Irving did in fact earn the title — after waking up in the medical tent.)

This year’s race saw a normal number of bumps and bruises. Victors were from as far away as Australia and as close to home as Gloucestershire. North Carolinian Abby Lampe snatched her second victory in the women’s race, making the U.S. home to an unrivaled two-time world champion (take that, summer Olympics).

The race began sometime in the 1800s (or likely before), and its origin story is largely disputed. From its being alleged to have been a pagan ritual for celebrating the arrival of spring, to farmers asserting grazing rights on the hill, its true inception may never be known.

The event is put on solely by volunteers fueled by the power of tradition (and quirk appeal), without any official sponsorship from the county. (On the contrary, city officials regularly warn the public about its dangers, but this doesn’t seem to deter the hundreds of spectators and competitors who flock to the hill every spring).

The key to winning – maybe even just to avoiding injury – may be to embody what Antonia’s friend and coach Nigel says twice during Let’s Roll: 

“You’re becoming one with the cheese!”

Thinking about joining in on the festivities? Watch a video or two of the races first . . .

And speaking of cheese — if this hasn’t made you hungry for a wheel of your own, I’m not sure what will — check out Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery’s selection of cheeses. An American version of the cheese roll, anyone?