The other day my son-in-law, Steve, told me about seeing a unique event on YouTube. It involved a group of people chasing a ball of cheese down a steep hill. He said it was described as one of the most unusual sporting events to be found anywhere. He suggested I might be interested in checking into it.

Obviously he was right. I was interested. A long time ago I had written about strange sporting events. It seems the timing is right to look at the subject matter again.

I am not sure, but it appears the event to which he made reference is an event known as Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake, an annual event held at Cooper’s Hill near Gloucester in England. The contest was just for locals at the beginning, but now it is known as a world-famous event. What happens is that a round of cheese, about nine pounds worth, is sent rolling down Cooper’s Hill, which is about 200 yards in length. Once the cheese starts rolling, competitors start chasing the cheese. The aim is to catch the cheese, but since it has a second head start and eventually is rolling downhill at approximately 70 miles per hour, it is impossible to catch the cheese. The first person to cross the finish line at the bottom is declared the winner and wins the cheese.

The race has had its casualties. In 1993, 15 persons were injured, four seriously chasing cheese downhill. Since then all kinds of measures have been taken to try to avoid injuries, and frankly, to avoid liability. Once a sponsored event, in recent years it has just taken place spontaneously without a sponsoring agency and without much formal organization. There was no race in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns.

From what I read, the event started sometime before 1826, the year that the first written evidence can be found. But from that evidence it is apparent that it was an old tradition even then. The cheese currently used is Double Gloucester, a hard cheese traditionally made in a circular shape. It was provided by cheese maker Diana Smart until she was warned in 2013 that she could be held responsible for injuries. Now a lightweight foam version is used for safety reasons. The winner still gets a nine-pound ball of cheese.

What are some other unusual competitions, you might ask?

One that might be of some interest to married men (depending on the size of their spouse) is the Wife Carrying Contest. From what I could gather, this is a competition that originated in Finland where a man needs to run 253.5 meters over rocky terrain carrying his wife on his back. For those who don’t instantly convert meters to yards in their minds, that is about 277 yards. One current contest awards the winner a mobile phone and beer in the same weight as the carried wife. No matter the size of the wife, that’s a lot of beer. That’s the old Finnish version. Today’s races are held all over the world but the rules are similar in terms of distance but differ in the type of course. There are obstacles, including running through sand and water and over fences. Rules state that the wife carried may be the runners’ own or a neighbor’s. She must weigh at least 49 kilograms (108 pounds). If she weighs less than 49 kilograms, she must be burdened with a rucksack containing enough weight to make the requirement. One of the rules is very important--the participants must enjoy themselves. One from which The Associated Press annually sends pictures is the ugliest dog contest. I’m not sure this is a sport, but since the Westminster Dog Show is considered a sporting event, surely the ugliest dog competition qualifies. This event is held annually in Petaluma, Calif., as part of the Sonoma-Marin Fair held the fourth week of June. Along with the title “World’s Ugliest Dog,” the winner receives a trophy, a check for $1,500 and a trip to New York City. There are two classifications, pedigreed animals and mutts, with the winners of the two divisions squaring off for the overall prize. The contest promoters and the Sonoma County Humane Society have partnered to educate the public about opportunities to adopt rescue dogs.

Another competition that comes from England is Bed Racing. Competitors need to have their own bed, which has four wheels and is capable of floating. The competitors race in teams of six, plus one person riding on the bed. There is a contest theme each year and the bed must be decorated to reflect that year’s theme. The race is a 3K and halfway through the run the teams face a steep climb to the top of a hill about midway through and then must negotiate going downhill. There is a final challenge--crossing a river. This isn’t an ancient competition, like the downhill cheese chase. It only dates back to the 1960s.

One competition that started more recently than even the Bed Racing is the World Beard and Mustache Championships. This is a biennial competition hosted by the World Beard and Mustache Association. The first championship took place in Hofen an de Enz, Germany in 1990. There are three brackets of facial hair: mustaches, partial beards and full beards. But there are categories in each bracket, totaling up to as many as 27 competitions. I have never had a beard, although back in the 1970s I did have sideburns that almost touched under my chin. Fortunately no one took a picture of that phenomenon.

One that I remember hearing about a few years back is the Gurning World Championships. In case you don’t remember, gurning is the process of making your face as ugly as possible. Some of us don’t need to do much to be ugly, but this is intentional ugliness. The World Gurning Championship takes place annually at the Egremont Crab Fair in England. The fair dates back to 1267 but the origin of the gurning contest is unclear. It was described as an “ancient” tradition in an 1852 newspaper article however. It is an advantage in the gurning competition to have no teeth. Sometimes the elderly or otherwise toothless can contort the face with gurns that cover the nose. Peter Jackman may be the most famous gurner, because of his numerous television appearances. He had all his teeth removed in 2000 to make his face more flexible for gurning. Tommy Mattinson of the UK won the male title 15 times and the biggest winner among women is Anne Woods, who won the world title 28 times.

I wonder if the gurners would have any luck competing against the world’s ugliest dog.