An international field of daredevils from all over the world compete, but there’s definitely an element of hometown pride at work; 20-something local legend Chris Anderson is often a fixture, having won the race numerous times (no less than 13 races). Lately, he faces increasing competition as word of this wacky event continues to gain worldwide attention (videos have over 3 million views on youtube). In 2013, two of the four races went to locals, including two-time winning 16-year-old Lucy Townsend. Another race was won by 39-year-old Tomoaki Tanaka, from Japan, who dressed like a ninja for the occasion. Another one of last year’s winners was 27-year-old Kenneth Rackers, a former Army soldier from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He heard about it while he was in college, put it on his “bucket list,” and decided to challenge himself to bring home the cheese. His training involved extraordinary measures, including pushing a Jeep, along with feats of stamina and endurance such as running up and down similarly-pitched hills on his home terrain.
For Rackers, the race has morphed into a launch pad for his project and documentary film, One In a Million, inspiring others to chase their dreams. It’s not necessarily about the cheese—one of last year’s winners, a local lad, confessed he didn’t even like it. And on a practical level, you don’t ever really get the cheese: it gets a head start. Once it takes off, it flies down that hill and typically eclipses everyone to bounce over the finish line—a chalk mark in the grass.