Medics Ready For Annual Cheese Rolling

More Hill-Side Insanity !, originally uploaded by om0j0mo.

Medics are ready for annual cheese rolling.

LONDON (AFP) - Scores of foolhardy competitors were on Monday gearing up to pitch themselves down a steep hill in pursuit of an eight-pound (3.6 kilogramme) cheese as part of a dangerous cheese rolling event in western England.

Entrants will take part in one of five events, all of which involve scrambling, slipping and sliding down a very steep 200-metre slope in Gloucestershire in the hope of being the first to grab hold of the coveted Double Gloucester cheese.

Medics were on standby for the inevitable spate of injuries resulting from the chase down Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, which in places has a 1:1 gradient.

Following heavy rain over the weekend, conditions were likely to be wet and muddy.[...]

Double Gloucester is an unpasteurised, semi-hard cheese which has been made in Gloucestershire since the 16th century.