A little bit of crazy and a whole lot of competition made for the Southland Cheese Roll Race held at the Southland Velodrome on Saturday.
When you have a speedy pink convertible driven by a gnome called Alf, you gouda know you have a grate chance at first place — Debra Clark will brie happily holding the Big Cheese Trophy until next year.
Ms Clark won the top trophy by the smallest sliver.
The event was a fundraiser for New Zealand Red Cross.
Everything from a tightly bound cabbage and recycled office chair wheels, to a mouse trap strapped to toy cars was entered in the competition.
A cube of cheese was attached, somehow, to the method of transport which had to be able to "roll" along.
New Zealand Red Cross Southland area chairwoman Adrienne Henderson said the event was a good opportunity for them to spread the word about the work the organisation did within the community and hopefully encourage some volunteers to join.
Money raised from the event would go towards the New Zealand Disaster Fund.
But having a whole lot of fun was also another aim of the day.
"We hope to see some fun and a bit of chaos on the track.
"We are pretty excited about the prizes because we’ve had some generous sponsors help us out there."
Entrants had put a lot of work into their carts.
The cheese roll theme was chosen because of their popularity in the Southern region.
It was a great way to weave some Southland culture into an event, she said.
The inaugural event was held in Bluff in 2020, but subsequent events had to be cancelled because of the pandemic restrictions.
Having an indoor event venue such as the velodrome was great because no-one had to worry about weather, she said.
— Toni McDonald
