Delaney Irving won the 2023 Cooper's Hill cheese rolling event on Monday, May 29 after a spur of the moment decision to take part. (submitted photo)

By Alex Rawnsley

SAY CHEESE

VIDEO: ‘Final little tumble’ sees Nanaimo woman win famous England cheese rolling event

May 30, 2023 | 10:10 AM

NANAIMO — Despite being knocked out for around 10 minutes, Delaney Irving describes her last few strides to victory as a “little tumble”.

The 19-year-old from Nanaimo won the women’s race at the annual Cheese Rolling event in Gloucester, England on Monday, May 29. She was the first one down the incredibly steep Coopers Hill chasing a seven-pound wheel of cheese.

Irving might have won the race, but certainly paid a price with her heavy fall at the finish line resulting in a concussion plus some scrapes and bruises.

“The very end is where I fell and right when I hit my head I believe that’s when I was knocked unconscious. You see me losing speed at the end and that’s because I just wasn’t really there anymore. I was just going with whatever was pushing me and I woke up a few minutes later.”

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“I remember starting it, rolling a lot and then I remember finally getting back on my feet running to the finish line. I took that final little tumble and then after that I just remember waking up in the medical tent.”

The decision to compete was a spur of the moment one for Irving and her friend who she’s travelling Europe with on a gap year after graduating high school in Nanaimo in 2022.

She’d been a fan of the race for some time with her father showing her videos of it growing up.

Discovering they’d be in the Gloucester area around the time of the race was just too tempting, however, they’d initially only planned to watch.

But it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity too good to pass up despite not having proper running shoes.

“We went to scope out the hill the day before the race, I thought this was crazy and it was way more steep than I ever thought,” Irving said. “The only thing we did is when we got back to our hotel room, we practiced rolling on the bed just trying to not hurt ourselves and that’s all that we could do.”

Irving celebrates with her wheel of cheese after taking out(submitted photo/John Gilmour)

At the top, Irving spoke with fellow competitors including a handful of Canadians and some past runners.

About 25 people were in her race which began exactly one second after the cheese was thrown down the hill.

“I knew once I started to fall I just need to accept it and just try to fall in a way that wouldn’t hurt me very much…tucking everything in, making sure I didn’t break anything, that’s the only strategy I had.”

While she admittedly doesn’t remember much, after watching the video she said she was out in front early.

“The whole time I wasn’t really looking at my competitors, I was just rolling and trying to focus on getting down. I remember the last few metres when I was on my feet again I saw someone out of the corner of my eye so I knew I had to go fast, that’s when I fell but I ended up reaching the finish line so it all worked out.”

Both Irving’s friend and her friend’s dad also ran in the races and made it through with some sore ankles.

Irving admitted to enjoying getting her adrenaline pumping and has cliff-jumped and zip lined before.

She’s planning a celebration with family to crack open her cheesy prize upon return to Canada in the coming days.

Her family were in the dark about her plans until after the event, with Irving keeping her plans under wraps.

The annual event, which was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the pandemic, sees hundreds of people throw themselves down the 180-metre-long Coopers Hill in Gloucester, England.

Chasing a seven to nine-pound wheel of cheese which can reach speeds upwards of 110 kilometres per hour, the first person to the bottom of the hill wins the wheel.

Concussions and broken bones are common injuries for participants.

It’s unknown how long cheese rolling events have been popular, with evidence to suggest people partaking well before the 1800’s.

Irving is planning to celebrate once back in Canada in early June with her friends, family and newly won cheese. (submitted photo)

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