You’ve probably heard of running with the bulls, but have you heard of running with the cheese?
It’s an age-old tradition that occurs every year at the near-vertical Coopers Hill near Gloucester, England.
Yep, you did indeed read that correctly, people run down a hill to capture an approximately 7-lb wheel of Double Gloucester cheese to be precise.
“I’m glad I’m pretty conscious, and I’ve not got many serious injuries,” contestant Matt Crolla told BBC.
Well, not everyone was able to maintain consciousness, as Delaney Irving found herself knocked out in her quest to capture the dairy delicacy on Monday.
The 19-year-old Canadian just so happened to win the female competition despite it.
Irving said right after the race, “I just remember hitting my head, and now I have the cheese.”
“I remember running, then bumping my head, and then I woke up in the tent,” she recalled. “I still don’t really believe it, but it feels great.”
Afterward, Irving told CBC she was sore and was covered in bruises.
Crolla noted what every person is thinking about this event. “I don’t think you can train for it, can you? It’s just being an idiot,” he said to BBC.
Some even travel with hopes of gaining the cheese glory. Ryoya Minami came from Japan for the event and also was victorious in a race.
And he entered the race “because I love cheese.”
Now, for the 19-year-old that was knocked unconscious, she had a different origin story with how she wound up hurling down the hill.
“Well, I decided yesterday I would do the race,” Irving, who is currently backpacking through Europe, said after her victorious cheese run.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.