“I shut off my brain and went for it.”

That's the exact strategy KU should have used in basketball..

My money is on Kopke to win his 3rd straight this Mayt! GO KOPKE! ROLL THE CHEESE, BRO! CHEESE

It depends heavily on the competitor — there’s a wide spectrum from meticulous preparation to complete spontaneity.

️ The Serious Competitors Do Put In Real Work

Two-time American champion Abby Lampe is the best-documented example of structured prep:

• Studied YouTube videos in advance to analyze how contestants attacked the hill
• Practiced rolling down hills at a local park near her university campus in the weeks beforehand
• Visited Cooper’s Hill two days before the race for an actual practice run — which convinced her to buy gloves to protect her hands
• For general fitness: “I love to be active and do strength training and running — just the normal things to get healthy enough to compete well”

In-Race Intelligence Gathering

She also ran pre-race scouting during the event itself, watching and recording the first two men’s races intently before her own heat. She noticed both winners started from the left side of the hill — so she made sure to secure that exact spot when it was her turn. Her intuition paid off — the woman she’d identified as her main rival finished second.

🧠 The Mental Game Matters Too

Lampe strategized with friends by watching hours of cheese rolling footage, focusing specifically on the previous two years’ races to refine her overall game plan. She even watched the Netflix documentary We Are the Champions the night before the race to get a better feel for the hill’s conditions.

️ But Training Has a Hard Ceiling

Here’s the brutal reality: no practice hill can truly prepare you for Cooper’s Hill.

Lampe tried to find the steepest hills near her home in North Carolina and initially planned to go headfirst — but hadn’t accounted for just how uneven and steep the real thing would be. As she put it:

“Videos and photos do not do it any justice. It’s a very steep hill. There’s a very large initial drop and then it’s very bumpy with a lot of uneven surfaces.”

Most Participants Don’t Train At All

Some competitors take it seriously enough to practice running down the hill beforehand — risking injury before the event even starts. But plenty of others simply show up on the day. One spectator recounted a guy standing next to them who decided to enter on a whim at the last minute. He ended up covered in bruises with a sprained back. His wife was not happy.

The Bottom Line

As 23-time champion Chris Anderson put it:

“Running down Cooper’s Hill is the best 15 seconds of your life you are ever going to experience.”

Next event: Monday, May 25, 2026 — Cooper’s Hill, Brockworth, Gloucestershire, England