The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World of Bizarro Sports

In the wake of so many recent global sporting events, from the Olympics to the Paralympics, to the World Nomad Games, I found myself exposed to (and fascinated by) some of the world’s more obscure competitions.

Adding to my intrigue is the often sky-high level of danger paired with the minimal reward. Winners of literally death-defying contests receive prizes as paltry as cheese, beer, or good old-fashioned bragging rights.

So I took a deep dive into the strange world of unusual competitions. These are my top 10.

If you have others worth adding to the list, please reach out and let us know.

1. Cheese Rolling

Whoever thought to roll a giant cheese wheel down a steep, rocky hill and have people chase after it is a story for another time. But the fact that someone did—and centuries later it’s still wildly popular—just goes to show you the peculiar workings of the human mind.

The annual Cheese Rolling event in Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire, England, dates back to the 1800s. Participants sprint, tumble, and, more often than not, simply fall down a treacherously steep hill in pursuit of a single 9-pound wheel of Double Gloucester.

The “winner” is the first to cross the finish line, with or without the cheese. Yes, winners get to keep the cheese, but that’s the only reward for endangering life and limb.

Make no mistake: despite the simple rules, Cheese Rolling is an extremely dangerous, and yet strangely popular, competition. The high degree of difficulty, real threat of bodily harm, and generally chaotic scene make for an outrageous spectacle that draws dozens of international participants and thousands of spectators.

While almost no one ever catches the cheese, it’s not impossible. In fact, someone manages to secure the wheel before reaching the bottom of the hill every 8 years, which is shocking when you consider that it gets a one second head start and can reach speeds of over 70 mph.

2. Bog Snorkeling

Just up the coast sits Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, a town famous for quirky sporting events, including mountain bike chariot races where competitors strap a wheelbarrow to two bikes and race dressed like an ancient Roman; the self-explanatory Man vs Horse marathon; and finger jousting.

Every August, the World Bog Snorkeling Championships comes to town. In competitive bog snorkeling, swimmers race through a water-filled trench in a peat bog. Snorkels and flippers are allowed, but traditional swimming strokes like the breaststroke are forbidden, leaving competitors dog paddling through the 60-yard course.

All of which makes it far more physically demanding than you might think. Plus there’s the disorientation and possible claustrophobia induced by snorkeling through frigid, muddy water with near-zero visibility.

To add to the day’s whimsy (and competitors’ challenges), participants often dress in silly costumes, such as Ken and Barbie, lobsters and mermaids, and turtles. These get-ups tend to be low-tech and heavy. Like many competitions on this list, winning brings only bragging rights, and a rich dose of the absurd.

3. Wife Carrying

The Wife Carrying World Championship, held annually in Sonkajärvi, Finland, was inspired by a 19th-century legend of a notorious local cad who was said to steal wives from nearby villages.

Today, thankfully, the men don’t actually steal wives, but instead carry their “stolen” spouses through an obstacle-laden track, which often involves water pits and hurdles.

The goal is simple: carry your partner through the course in the fastest time possible. The prize? Your wife’s weight in beer.

Not only does wife carrying require Norse god-like physical strength, but also proper balance, a thoughtful strategy, deft spousal communication, and, of course a healthy sense of humor.

Bonus points are awarded to husband and wife teams who perform various signature styles of carries, such as the piggyback, and particularly the Estonian-style carry where the wife hangs upside-down, with her legs around the husband’s neck.

4. Marathon du Médoc

Chalk this one up to “only the French.” While marathons are generally synonymous with endurance, discipline, and peak physical fitness, not so the Marathon du Médoc.

Held in the heart of France’s Bordeaux wine region, this event flips the typical marathon experience on its head. Instead of focusing on speed and stamina, the emphasis is on indulgence, appearance, and—most notably—drinking wine.

Participants in this 26.2-mile race don elaborate costumes–the more flamboyant, the better–and jog through scenic vineyards, stopping at more than 20 refreshment stations that feature wine tastings and gourmet snacks like foie gras and oysters, rather than the usual water and energy bars.

Set against the scenic backdrop of the Médoc vineyards, this uniquely French marathon offers a curious blend of fitness and festivity which has earned it the reputation as “the world’s longest party.”

5. Ferret Legging

Even competitors would likely agree that ferret legging is an objectively ridiculous sport. In this British-based competitive endurance test participants place two live, sharp-fanged, razor-clawed ferrets inside their trousers, cinch the ankles and belt shut, and see how long they can take the grueling onslaught. Which usually isn’t long as ferrets are notorious for being hyperactive, incredibly ornery, and utterly determined to get out of any confined situation. It’s astounding anyone would volunteer to participate in this event at all, let alone last for hours.

And yes, participants have been known to last hours. In fact, the current record stands at more than five hours of ferret-filled agony, making this what has to be one of the most painful endurance tests out there.

Additionally, competitors cannot be drunk or drugged to help cope with the pain, nor can the ferrets be sedated, and competitors can only touch the ferrets from the outside of their trousers. A full set of ferret legging rules can be found here.

But one man’s trial (and competitors are almost all men, for various reasons, including anatomic and simple basic female common sense) is another man’s egg toss, and even this bizarre event has found global charm.

A few years ago, Outside magazine brilliantly chronicled the adventures of Reg Mellor, the “king of the ferret leggers,” in one of the funniest articles you’ll ever read.

6. Ostrich Racing

Nothing too crazy about this one. Classic human-on-animal-racing stuff. Except instead of a horse or the usual four-legged creature, competitors clamber aboard ornery ostriches.

Particularly popular in South Africa and parts of the southern U.S., ostrich racers attempt to sit on the birds, holding onto their wings or neck, and race around a track. Ostriches, the world’s largest bird, can run at speeds of up to 45 mph, making for a potentially fast-paced race.

However, since ostriches are notoriously stubborn they have been known to spend the entire race trying to shake off their rider, the results are often deliciously chaotic, with riders getting thrown at top speed or the birds simply refusing to move.

“Riding an ostrich is remarkably like riding a pencil-necked two-hundred-and-fifty pound chicken,” Kim Bradly wrote in an article for Eventing Nation.

Of course, if you’re noticing a pattern here, this joyful—bordering on silly—unpredictability is part of what makes ostrich racing so entertaining to watch.

7. Team Fighting

Hand-to-hand combat is one of the world’s oldest forms of competition. And today, with the rise of MMA, fighting is more popular than ever.

In the past few years, the sport has stepped things up a notch with the introduction of Team Fighting. Essentially a sanctioned bar fight, this emerging combat sport pits two teams of five hulking men against each other in a cage until only one man is left standing.

As Vice wrote: “Imagine a team combat sport where ten men climb into a ring and beat the living s**t out of each other for as long as it takes until only one of them is left standing.”

Well, you don’t have to imagine it, because it’s now a real event, primarily taking place in Russia, Poland, Serbia, and other Baltic nations, and run by a company called Team Fighting Championship based in Latvia.

In Team Fighting, combatants are free to use virtually any style of martial art. The rules, such as they are, require that a team win by submission, knockout, or points, while multiple referees, also locked in the cage, keep the action relatively fair by regulating illegal moves and managing chaotic moments, of which there are many.

Team Fighting is not for the faint of heart, but if you’re looking to satisfy your unquenchable bloodlust, this sport will set you on the right path.

8. Extreme Ironing

And now for something completely different. For those who find the act of ironing mundane, Extreme Ironing offers an adventurous twist on this household chore.

This peculiar sport involves ironing clothes in the most extreme and outlandish locations imaginable. Participants, known as “ironists,” have pressed shirts while hanging off cliffs, underwater, up in trees, and even while skydiving.

Founded in the UK in 1997, Extreme Ironing has gained global attention for its blend of danger and domesticity. Competitors take their ironing boards, irons, and clothing to locations ranging from mountaintops to the depths of rivers, with the goal of achieving a perfectly pressed garment in the most difficult environments.

Though it might sound absurd, Extreme Ironing requires serious physical and mental endurance, particularly when undertaken in hazardous settings. It’s part performance art, part adrenaline high, and completely unique—making it one of the world’s quirkiest competitions.

9. Chess Boxing

Chess boxing is the perfect sport for people who enjoy a good intellectual test while punching someone in the face. Marrying the strategic finesse of chess with the brute force of boxing makes for the ultimate pairing of brains and brawn.

Competitors alternate between rounds of chess and boxing. One minute you’re sitting peacefully across from your opponent plotting a five-move checkmate; the next you’re landing a right hook to his jaw.

A chess boxing match consists of alternating rounds of chess and boxing, usually starting and ending with chess. The rounds are typically four minutes of chess followed by two minutes of boxing, with a one-minute break between rounds. Participants win by knocking their opponent out or checkmating them.

It might come as no surprise that chess boxing was originally founded by a Dutch performance artist. Iepe Rubingh, an accomplished athlete and chess player who consulted on Netflix’s popular show, The Queen’s Gambit, started chess boxing in 2003 to fulfill his vision of “combining entrepreneurship, sport, and art.”

10. Hobby Horsing

Sometimes a sport comes out of nowhere to capture a massive and unlikely following. Think pickleball, or F1. Or, yes, hobby horsing. Originating in Finland, this peculiar sport has gained immense popularity in recent years, seeing growing numbers of participants and organized events across Germany and the UK.

In hobby horsing, participants (so far skewing heavily toward teenage girls) ride wooden stick horses as they prance around a gym mimicking the movements and techniques of real equestrian events, such as dressage and show jumping.

At first glance, the sport might appear silly, but it reportedly requires considerable athleticism, balance, and creativity, as participants perform intricate routines. And despite its playful nature, hobby horsing is taken quite seriously by its enthusiasts, who craft—and usually name—their own custom horses and train diligently.

“Hobby horsing just gives me self-confidence and I just enjoy doing it with other people,” Max Gohde, a 15-year-old German competitor told the AP. “Now there’s also this atmosphere here, where everyone is just happy for you. And I think that’s just really cool.”

This year in Frankfurt, roughly 300 riders competed in Germany’s first hobby horsing championship, watched by 1,500 spectators. And unlike most other sports on this list, hobby horsing actually pays its winners. As the Guardian reported, hobby horsing is “no joke,” and that “the British Show Pony Society (BSPS) is set to ‘embrace the hobby horse craze’ by introducing a competition with £300 prizes for the young winners.”

If you’re interested in competing in any of these events, be forewarned that many of them can be quite dangerous. Good thing Safety Wing offers reliable and comprehensive travel insurance.

Aaron Kenedi