Each year the UK plays hosts to a variety of bizarre – and occasionally dangerous – wacky sporting events such as Man V Horse, bog-snorkelling and cheese-rolling. Here is our guide to Britain's weirdest sports events.
Britain's weirdest sports
Wife carrying championships
Dorking, Surrey
Wife carrying race? Yes really. Wife carrying in the UK, say the organisers of this Dorking event, began with the Vikings at Lindisfarne in 793AD, and they resurrected the tradition with the Wife Carrying Champs in 2008.
This is how the organisers describe the sport: 'Wife carrying can be a dangerous activity, which can lead to any one or more of the following injuries: slipped disk, broken legs and arms, limb dislocations, neck and spinal damage, facial injury, skull fracture, hernias, and other sundry injuries and illnesses, and potentially including death. But please don't let this put you off!'
Lovely...
The rules stipulate that males or females must carry a ‘wife’ (it doesn’t need to be the carrier’s wife but must be ‘human, alive and over 18’) over hay bale hurdles and water hazards for 380m.
Prizes include a pound of sausages for whoever carries the heaviest ‘wife’. Find out more
The Mighty Deerstalker
Peebles, Scottish Borders
For those with more of an active persuasion, Rat Race Events host some of the most epic events the UK has to offer, from 70 miles running races along Hadrian’s Wall to 100km treks via the Pilgrim’s Route to Canterbury. More achievable (but still tough) is the Mighty Deerstalker, where entrants are faced with five, 10 or 20 miles of running trails over mountains and through rivers, and all in the dark. Deerstalker hats optional. Sadly 2023 will be the last time this event is run - find out more
Cheese rolling
Brockworth, Gloucestershire
A highlight of the BBC’s Points West news every Spring Bank Holiday weekend is footage of the Cheese Rolling event in Gloucestershire. The race finds participants chase a cheese (once a Double Gloucester but now made of foam due to safety concerns) down the 3:1 mound that is Cooper’s Hill, in what the Sydney Morning Herald labels as the ‘world’s most dangerous foot race’. Evidence of cheese rolling dates back to 1826 and it’s since been name-checked in ER and Gilmore Girls. Fancy giving it a go - or watching the carnage? Find out more on their Facebook page
Man V Horse
Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys
Man V Horse began, as all great events should, following a debate in a pub over the merits of humans and horses over mountainous terrain. Cue the first Man V Horse in 1980, which now sees athletes racing horses over a 22-mile course each June in Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys. The runners have a 15min advantage over the horses (and riders), but the equine contestants have long dominated the hoof-friendly podium, losing only three in the event’s history, with the run winner being Ricky Lightfoot in 2022.
Green Events also put on the Welsh Open Stone Skimming, the Bog Championships and a Walking Festival, among others.
The World Egg Throwing Championships
Swaton, Lincolnshire
Ignoring the hog roast, the World Egg Throwing Champs is surely the highlight of the annual Swaton Vintage Day. After target practise at a moving object (a man named Joel Hicks) and Russian Egg Roulettes, the main World Champs decider finds teams of two (a catcher and a tosser) going for broke (or yoke) standing 10m apart and moving further away after each successful catch. If an egg is dropped or broken, then that pair’s championship dreams are cracked for another year.
World Stinging Nettle Eating Championships
Waytown, Dorset
Another event that started life in a pub is this annual stinging nettle-eating challenge. While nettle soup is a dark green bowl of warming joy, this event sees participants chewing their way through the leaves of as many two foot-long raw nettle stalks as possible, which can cause the tongue to swell and blacken. Since 2022 it has taken place at the Dorset Nectar Cider Farm
. facebook.com/events/the-bottle-inn/live-at-the-bottle-inn-marshwood
World Bog Snorkelling Championships
Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales
Held at the Waen Rhydd bog on the outskirts of Llanwrtyd Wells every summer, the World Bog Snorkelling Champs finds athletes snorkelling to complete the bog in the swiftest time, with Neil Rutter the current course champion in a time of 1:18mins. There’s also a bog swimming triathlon on the same weekend.
Amazingly this event attracts people from all over the world. In In 2022 there were competitors from from Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Eire, Finland, Poland, South Africa and USA
World Stone Skimming Championships
Easdale Island, nr Oban, Scotland
Without wanting to sound too Alan Partridge, we’re sure you’ll agree that there are few things more satisfying in life than a well-executed stone skim. The World Stone Skimming Championships have been drawing participants to beautiful Easdale Island on Scotland’s western coast since 1983. Each stone must be from naturally-formed Easdale slate and no more than three inches in diameter, and must bounce on the water more than twice to be a valid skim.
More adventure inspiration
Discover the wild sport of downhill grass skiing
Where to ski and snowboard in Scotland, England and the rest of the UK
Unmissable adventures on water: wild swimming, paddleboarding and more
