Why are all these people stumbling down a hill? They were running what’s considered one of the world’s most dangerous—and possibly most ridiculous—races: the annual cheese rolling competition in Brockworth, England, which took place in May. Participants dash 200 yards on a perilously steep course after a 7-pound wheel of Double Gloucester cheese, and whoever crosses the finish line first wins the wheel. But making it to the bottom is no small feat, and many competitors wipe out along the way, twisting ankles, pulling muscles, even breaking legs. The tradition dates back centuries and first appeared in written records in 1826. Experts speculate it may have started as a pagan ritual to bless crops or as a way to test the strength of locally made barrels. But however it began, it’s become even more popular these days, with thousands of people flocking in from all over the world to join the race. “I will probably feel it tomorrow,” Ava Sender Logan, winner of the women’s event, told the Associated Press. “It felt quite long coming down, and then I hit my head. I’m down, that’s what matters. I’m fine.”