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Explore the quirkiest, most charming, and oddly inspirational competitions you never knew existed, and the determined, passionate, and incredibly skilled competitors who put it all on the line to become heroes in their own extraordinary worlds.
Each May, in a quiet English village, thousands of people gather to watch runners chase a wheel of cheese down a hill. A very steep hill. Follow competitors as they sprint, tumble and crash down the hill at top speed—risking fractured limbs and broken collar bones—to cross the finish line first and be crowned the Cheese Rolling Champion.
In his inaugural Pepper Eating Challenge, Smokin’ Ed Currie, inventor of the world's hottest chili pepper, promises to burn the tongue off of even the most determined pepper eating masochists. Joins the brave contestants as they sweat through the heat and drop one-by-one, succumbing to the heat of Ed’s infamous and World Record-holding Carolina Reaper pepper. BYO milk.
The Bronner Brothers International Beauty Show is the nation’s largest multicultural beauty show—it’s also home to the Fantasy Hair Competition, the most outrageous and over-the-top display of hair on the planet. Visit New Orleans where stylists have 90 minutes to craft elaborate, sculptural hair creations and transform their model into a head-to-toe vision of Mardi Gras.
Yo-Yos may be old, but their champions are barely out of their teens. Visit the World Yo-Yo contest in Cleveland, Ohio—the most prestigious Yo-Yo competition on the planet—where elaborate routines and original moves set to hot music take “walking the dog” to a whole new park.
Join the best dog dancers in the world at the Open European Championship (OEC), where the dogs master over 400 commands in a single four-minute routine. Whether it's heelwork or freestyle, these dogs prove that they're the perfect dance partner.
Travel to Angels Camp, California, home of the world championship of Frog Jumping. The annual champion gets a star on the “Hop of Fame,” a beautiful trophy and 500 American dollars! But the real goal is to break Rosie the Ribeter’s record of 21 feet and 5.75 inches—that will get you $5,000 and the title of Frog Jumping World Champion!
