Recipe for success Cheese-rolling king on winning - and surviving - the race

It is as much about control as out-and-out speed. Bravery is important - but so is an element of careful preparation and planning.

- Steven Morris

Over the years, Chris Anderson, the record-breaking cheese-chasing king of Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire, has seen it all. He's had lots of wins, but also losses and injuries.

Now having stepped back from the annual madcap, helter-skelter race, Anderson is taking on the role of elder statesman; happy to pass on his experience to anyone who'd like to listen.

"It's risky, there's no doubt about it," he reflected after the latest edition of the event this half-term week. "You've just got to be able to try and stay on your feet as long as possible and lean backwards so you can stay in control of yourself.

"Obviously you need to be fast but overall it's better to stay in control rather than going flat out," he said. If you fall, the best bet is an army roll - Anderson used to serve in the British military so he was good at that - and then get back on your feet as quickly as possible.

He reckons mid-20s is the ideal age for a cheese-roller: "Fit but with a bit of experience as well." And, of course, you need to have the right mindset. "You've got to be someone who enjoys an adrenaline rush," he said.