VisitEngland
	Competitions like Rossendale’s saucy gravy wrestling are crowd favorites.

Not athletic, never mind

© 2012 Group Tour Media Article,
February 2, 2012

LONDON—Leave it to the British to make a sport out of gallons of gravy, black pudding and pancake batter.

What? Rolling around in muck wearing galoshes isn’t your cup of tea? How about somersaulting down a hill after some European cheese?

Still not impressed? Don’t worry, you can just kick your neighbor’s shin and call it a day.

From pea shooting to toe wrestling, you have six months to plan your trip to England in time for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Host venues across the country are preparing to welcome travelers and competitors to watch and participate in a whole range of sporting events, including the most unconventional.

“There is something for everyone and these unusual events really bring to the fore some of our country's quirkier heritage and culture,” said Lady Cobham, chairman of VisitEngland, the country’s international tourism marketing brand.

Ten highlights for 2012:

1. Pancake Dash, Feb. 21, 2012, Olney, Buckinghamshire

Every year since 1445 local ladies have been stopping traffic in February with their annual Pancake Dash. Dressed in traditional housewife attire—skirts, aprons and scarves— contestants run through the town of Olney armed with skillets and pancakes. The cakes are tossed at the start of the race and the winner is required to toss her pancake again at the finish.

The contest went international in 1950 when the women of Olney started competing against women in the town of Liberal, Kan. Today, the winner is declared only after times have been compared on a transatlantic phone call.

2. The World Coal Carrying Contest, April 9, 2012, Ossett, West Yorkshire

In this great test of strength and stamina, participants in Ossett’s World Coal Carrying Contest in April lug between 44-110 lbs. of coal over a mile uphill.

The contest dates back to 1963 when a man bet his friends at a bar that he was as fit as they were. If they didn’t believe him, they could race up a hill with bags of coal on their backs.

3. Shin Kicking, June 1, 2012, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire

No need for shin guards. In this annual event part of the Cotswold Olimpicks in Gloucestershire, contestants fill their pants with straw before grabbing on to each other’s arms and kicking each other with steel toed boots. The looser is the first to give in to the pain and bruising. 

Starting in 1612, the longstanding June event now attracts thousands of spectators each year and features several countryside games like tug-of-war, obstacle courses and wrestling.

4. Cheese Rolling, June 4, 2012, Brockworth, Gloucestershire

When the master of ceremonies starts the annual Cheese Rolling Competition by pushing an 8 lbs. roll of cheese down a hill, hundreds of people hurl themselves after it. The cheese is just that good in Gloucestershire.

A tradition stemming from medieval times, competitors run, roll and somersault down a steep, grassy slope, tripping and falling on the landscape’s rough, uneven terrain. The winner takes home the cheese, not to mention a few bumps and bruises!

5. Egg Throwing, June 24, 2012, between Helpringham and Swaton, Lincolnshire

Calling all engineers and egg lovers! At the annual World Egg Throwing Championship contestants must construct a gravity powered egg launching device and hurl the breakfast food at a waiting team member. Points are awarded if your team catches the egg unbroken or gets struck by it. Travelling at speeds of 120 mph, the crunch of the shell and the ooze of the yellow and clear goo is sure to leave a bruise.

	VisitEngland
	Steeped in tradition, many of the unconventional games have been around for hundreds of years. The Coal Carrying Competition started in 1963 after some men made a bet in a bar.

6. Pea Shooting, July 14, 2012, Witcham, Cambridgeshire

People come from as far away as New Zealand to compete for the World Pea Shooting Trophy where accuracy, not distance, is the name of the game. Competition is fierce as contestants shoot peas through 12-inch tubes, 12 feet forward at a 12-inch target. Though shooters can be bought at the event, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see a pea shooting fanatic show up with his own laser-guided gun.

7. Toe Wrestling, Aug. 25, 2012, Fenny Bentley, Ashbourne

It must have been a drunken night at the bar in 1976 when locals in Wetton decided host the first annual World Toe Wrestling Championship. Now, each August at the Bentley Brook Inn in Derbyshire competitors lock their big toes together and attempt to force their opponent’s foot to the ground.

In 1997 organizers applied for toe wrestling to be included in the actual Olympic games. Unfortunately, that request was denied.

8. Gravy Wrestling, Aug. 27, 2012, Bacup, Rossendale

Mashed potatoes, anyone? Things get saucy in Bacup every year at the World Gravy Wrestling Championship in August. Crowds gather to watch teams slide around in lukewarm gravy glop as they attempt to wrestle one another to the ground.

9. Black Pudding Throwing, Sept. 9, 2012, Ramsbottom, Lancashire

Famous for its Black Pudding, Lancashire residents take to throwing the muddy slosh each year at the World Black Pudding Throwing Championship. Every September contestants wrap the gook in ladies’ stockings and hurl it at a collection of Yorkshire pudding in the town’s main street. Whoever knocks the most down, wins.

10. Conker Knockout, Oct. 14, 2012, Ashton, Peterborough

Siblings and friends who used to play the childhood game of conkers can now take their pastime international at the Conker Knockout in Ashton this October. The rules are simple. Each player is given a conker, a horse chestnut attached to a piece of string, and then they take turns swinging at their opponent’s conker, trying to break it.

Each year, some 300 participants vie for the acclaimed title, King or Queen of Conkers. The world tournament came about after a group of local friends had to cancel their annual fishing trip. Drowning their sorrows at the pub, they saw conkers falling from the trees and so they went out and had a game.