The biggest competition is where lovers race against lovers to achieve victory.
Wife-carrying is a sport played in which male competitors race while each carrying a female teammate.
The sport is based on tales that have been passed down from one person to another about a man named Herkko Rosvo-Ronkainen. He was considered a robber who lived in the forest with his band of thieves. Based on the stories, he and his crew were accused of plunging food from villages and also carried woman on their backs as they ran away.
The Finnish call the sport Eukonkanto.
The objective is to reach the finish line, through a special obstacle course, in the fastest time.
Since 1992, the Wife Carrying World Championships are held annually in Sonkajärvi, Finland. The prize for winning depends on the wife’s weight and they receive that amount in beer and five times her weight in cash
“The championship prize is not the usual prize you see every day, I would much rather have the cash prize, but I’ll take both,” said senior Keean Bentley.
Wife-carrying is now practiced in Australia, the United States, Hong Kong, Estonia, UK and other parts of the world besides Finland; they also have a category in the Guinness Book of Records.
When the sport first came to life, the original course was a rough, rocky terrain with fences and brooks (small streams), recently, it has been altered to suit modern conditions. Now, the course has sand instead of rocks, and an area filled with water.
“The rocky terrain from the original course sounds a lot more challenging than the more modern one, I like a good challenge,” said senior Maura D’Anna.
The rules are straight forward. The length of the track is 253.5 meters with two dry obstacles and a water obstacle about one meter deep. The minimum weight of the wife is 108 pounds and if she does not meet the requirements, they will be given a rucksack containing additional weight to meet the total weight. Also, you may use three types of carrying styles; the piggyback, fireman’s carry, or Estonian-style, where the wife hangs upside-down with her legs around the husband’s shoulders, holding onto his waist.
“Piggybacking this contest sounds a lot easier than the other types of carrying, I’d have a view of everything,” said junior Sophia Cronin.
The world record for the fastest time completing the course is 55.5 seconds held by Margo Uusorg and Birgit Ulricht from Tallinn, Estonia. The Finnish record is 56.7 seconds.
“Wife-carrying is unique sport and seems somewhat fun,