Video: Annual 'Death-Defying' Cheese Rolling Competition Takes Place In UK

GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK (CBSDFW.COM)  -- An annual British cheese rolling competition kicked off in the Gloucestershire countryside on Monday, May 27, with racers tumbling down Cooper's Hill after wheels of cheese.

Described by some as 'death-defying,' the event attracts thrill-seekers who chase a wheel of double Gloucester cheese down the steep slope in three separate races, each with a winner and separate prize cheese.

According to the BBC, Max McDougall, 22, won the first men's downhill race. "It was better than last year when I knocked myself out," McDougall told the BBC. "I just went for it, pick a line and stick to it."

Flo Early won the woman's race. "If you go fast from the beginning the hill will do the rest," said Early.

One racer was carried off the course after the second race with a suspected broken ankle.

In video of the event, people can be seen running or falling down the steep hill chasing their prize.

Cooper's Hill Cheese Roll and Wake happens annually on the Spring Bank Holiday and attracts both competitors and spectators from around the world.

The first written evidence of the event dates from 1826, but the tradition was established long before, some suggest perhaps as a pagan ritual.