Every year, a gaggle of lunatics gather at the top of Cooper’s Hill in the Cotswold Hills of South West England. Following in the footsteps as well as the ambulances of those that came before them, they hurl themselves down the 45-degree grade of Cooper’s Hill in pursuit of a nine-pound wheel of cheese.
I shit you not.
From Wikipedia:
This ceremony originally took place each Whit Monday, before it later transferred to the Spring Bank Holiday. Two possible origins have been proposed for the ceremony. The first is said that it evolved from a requirement for maintaining grazing rights on the common.[5]
The second proposal is pagan origins for the custom of rolling objects down the hill. It is thought that bundles of burning brushwood were rolled down the hill to represent the birth of the New Year after winter. Connected with this belief is the traditional scattering of buns, biscuits and sweets at the top of the hill by the Master of Ceremonies. This is said to be a fertility rite to encourage the fruits of harvest.[5]
Each year, the event becomes more and more popular, with contestants coming from all across the world to compete, or even simply to watch.[1] In 1993, fifteen people were injured, four seriously, chasing cheeses down the one-in-three hill.[5]
Fun fact: In 1997, 30 people were hurt during the chase–seven of which were just there to watch the damn thing go down.