The big cheese of extreme U.K. sports events is back. In southwest England, close to Gloucester, hundreds of spectators gathered to watch dozens of irrational racers chase a 7-pound (3 kilogramme) wheel of Double Gloucester cheese down the nearly vertical Cooper's Hill. The first competitor to cross the finish line after the cheese that is moving quickly wins. Since at least 1826, a cheese-rolling race has been held at Cooper's Hill, about 100 miles (160 km) west of London, though the sport is likely much older. There are frequently security issues with the rough-and-tumble event. Few competitors are able to maintain their balance the entire 200-yard (180 metre) descent hill, and this year several competitors had to be assisted from the course while limping. Delaney Irving, a 19-year-old Canadian competitor who finished first in the women's race despite being briefly knocked out cold. “I just remember hitting my head, and now I have the cheese,” said Irving, who comes from Nanaimo, British Columbia. Matt Crolla, 28, from Manchester in northwestern England, won the first of several men’s races. Asked how he had prepared, he told reporters: “I don’t think you can train for it, can you? It’s just being an idiot.”