By Chris Cosci

There's no denying it: people love to win. In sports, in casinos, on game shows... everywhere. It's part of human nature. Sure, winning isn't everything, but the thrill of the competition is exciting. Of course, things can get a little crazy when this innate desire gets mixed up with another human inevitability: people do stupid things.

People don't need a reason to do stupid things, but when winning something is involved, there's almost no limit to what they are willing to do. It would be obvious to point out the spate of reality television shows, where people do just about anything for a chance to win some money or other prizes. However, this behavior has been part of our nature since long before Fear Factor.

Take the people at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire, England. Every year, they hold a Cheese Rolling festival. The highlight of this festival is a contest in which a group of up to twenty people line up at the top of Cooper's Hill. They wait for somebody to release a seven-pound block of Double Gloucester cheese, at which point they chase the rolling cheese down the hill. This may not sound all that ridiculous, but there are a few important details to note.

For starters, the hill is rather steep. Therefore, most people aren't exactly able to run down the hill. Instead, the chase turns into utter chaos as contestants tumble, roll and crash down the hill, arms and legs flailing around in a frenzied race to the bottom. It's similar to watching skiers flip over after hitting a rough patch of ice, only the people at Cooper's Hill don't have the comforting blanket of snow to protect them from the dirt and rubble on the ground. It may sound a little painful, but it's actually much more dangerous than that.

As it turns out, people are injured every year in the cheese chase. Last year, five people were carried away with major injuries, including a broken ankle and a dislocated shoulder. There were also a handful of sprains and muscle pulls, and most contestants walked away with cuts and bruises. However, you must remember that this is a contest. So people aren't risking life and limb for no reason. The winner must receive a really extraordinary prize.

This is what really puts this entire contest in perspective. The first person to reach the bottom of the hill wins... the cheese. Battered, beaten, bruised and bloodied, the winner walks away with a seven-pound block of cheese. All I can say is, that better be the best cheese in the world.

What's really amazing is that this event has been taking place for hundreds of years. There is a long tradition of people beating themselves up and breaking their bones, all for a block of cheese. No one is entirely certain how or why this event was started. Some say it originated as a way to determine land ownership. Others say it was started by the Romans as a rite of fertility -- I presume as a rite to destroy a man's fertility. Whatever the truth may be, this event is still proof that people doing stupid things to win prizes is not a recent phenomenon.

Along with the desire to win and the tendency to do stupid things, there is one more certainty that completes the trifecta of human nature: people love to watch other people suffer. Wherever you find someone being inflicted with pain, you will find a crowd of people willing to watch. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that thousands of people gather each year to witness the cheese-rolling contest at Cooper's Hill. This crowd is there to cheer, shout and pray that one of the contestants doesn't errantly stray off course and plow over a spectator (and yes, it has happened).

So why do people take this risk every year? Is it for the cheese? I don't think so. It's for the glory -- the satisfaction of taking part in a time-honored tradition. Despite the pain, people claim to be exhilarated by the experience. The festival is held on the last Monday of every May, so the next cheese chase is right around the corner. And after this year's contestants limp off the field, they will begin the long, painful road to recovery -- just so they can go back and do it again next year.