Champ Knocked Unconscious During Cheese Roll

As the US marked Memorial Day, people in Gloucestershire, England, celebrated a much sillier occasion: the annual cheese-rolling competition, in which participants with a nonchalant attitude toward personal safety chase a cheese wheel down a near-vertical 200-yard hill. The women's race at Coopers Hill this year was won by Delaney Irving, a 19-year-old Canadian who was knocked unconscious as she chased the 7-pound wheel of cheese, the BBC reports. " I remember running, then bumping my head, and then I woke up in the tent," she said. "I still don't really believe it, but it feels great."

As usual, police and paramedics were on hand in case of injuries more serious than the usual twisted ankles, reports the Stroud News and Journal, which notes that the event dates back to at least 1826. International participants included cheese-chasers from the US and Japan. The first race was won by 28-year-old Matt Crolla from Manchester, England, who said he was glad to complete the race conscious and without serious injuries. Asked by the BBC how he prepared for the race, he said: "I don't think you can train for it, can you? It's just being an idiot." (More extreme sports stories.)