A woman from North Carolina has won her second cheese-rolling race in Britain.
Abby Lampe, a financial services consultant in Raleigh, won her second title. According to The New York Times, she missed last year’s competition because of a Taylor Swift concert. She last won two years ago.
The prize? A wheel of Double Gloucester cheese, according to the newspaper.
“It went the best as it could have,” Lampe said, according to the Times. “I wanted to do it again, to defend the title, to bring it back to the U.S.”
Racers chase 7-pound wheels of Double Gloucester cheese down Cooper’s Hill. The hill is located near Gloucester, according to WRAL. The race has been held in the area since at least 1826.
“You just have to roll,” said Lampe, according to WRAL. “There’s a little bit of pain, but it’s just going to be temporary.”
“Two years ago, someone broke their leg, so it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. People break their collarbones. People break their ankles, their arms – it’s definitely a risky endeavor,” she said, according to CNN. “My face took a lot of hits down the hill – so did my body – but that’s the cost that it takes to win the cheese rolling.”
Competitors Tom Kopke of Germany, Dylan Twist of Australia and local Josh Shepherd won the first three spots in the men’s races, CNN reported.
The cheese rolling race is one of the most extreme annual events in Britain, WRAL reported.