Tetbury Woolsack Races

The Tetbury Woolsack Races are held on the Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday. Hundreds of people line up along Gumstool Hill (an extremely steep street) in the centre of Tetbury, Gloucestershire to watch the teams. Each competitor must carry a full woolsack on his / her back and race either up, down or up and down the hill. It is exhausting work and perhaps accounts for the vast quantities of beer and cider consumed in the local establishments.

The races take place between two public houses, the Royal Oak (the bottom of the hill) and the Crown (at the top). People can take part either as individuals or as part of a team. The individuals race up the hill, the teams (with 4 members swapping places at each end of the course) race up and down the hill twice.

The men race with a 60lb woolsack, ladies have 30lb. There are also youth races where boys ages 16-18 races with a 30lb sack and a children's class. The weight of the children's woolsack isn't specified but it's probably about the same as a pillow.

Most competitors come from local rugby teams or the British Army; many of the course records are held by Tetbury Rugby Club.

There are also appearances by the Norfolk Mountain Rescue Team, and a group who do the race on unicycles.

History

This website contains information from the 2002 and 2003 Woolsack Races: [http://www.tetburyonline.co.uk/events/woolsack02.htm Link]

External links

* [http://www.tetburywoolsack.co.uk Official Woolsack Day website]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2007/05/29/woolsack_2007_feature.shtml BBC Gloucestershire feature on the Tetbury Woolsack Races 2007]