Behold the carnage of England's annual cheese roll chase

Thousands turned out on Monday to Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, England to watch one the world's strangest yet compelling competitions: people chasing a wheel of cheese for 200 yards down a hill. 

It's a bank holiday tradition that dates back to the 1800s but, according to SoGlos magazine, hasn't been an unofficial event since safety concerns led to its cancelation in 2010. But cheese roll lovers have continued to gather for this "unofficial" event since then, the risk to life, limb and cheese wheel be damned.

Traditionally, there are four races, including one that's just for women. Chris Anderson won two of this year's races, giving him 17 wins overall in his cheese-roll-chase career. 

“It’s brilliant, I’m really happy,” said Anderson, who then dedicated the victories to a friend who had died. “My friend Izzy John sadly passed away recently so this is for him and his family. He won it multiple times,” he said.

There's no word on injuries from the 2016 event yet; the highest toll for a cheese roll chase, according to SoGlo, was 1997 after which 33 people were treated for a variety of bang-ups and bruises.

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