Wife carrying originated as a joke in Finland. It dates back to an old Finnish courting ritual which involved a man running to a woman's village, picking her up, and carrying her off. The sport has since greatly grown in popularity and is practiced all around the world. For example, the North American Wife Carrying Championship is held in Newry, Maine every year.
Rules
*Rules vary slightly depending on location
- A Wife Carrying team consists of a man and a woman. For the purposes of the game, the man is referred to as the husband and the woman is referred to as the wife. They needn't actually be man and wife.
- Depending on the country, both contestants must be either 18 or 21 years old.
- The wife must be a minimum of 100lbs. Should she be under 100lbs, she must wear additional weights that bring her to that minimum weight.
- The object is for the husband to carry the wife through an obstacle course. This obstacle course is usually about 250 ft. and consists of sand, mud, hurdles, and waist deep water. Dropping the wife results in a 10 second penalty
- There are no rules on how the husband carries the wife as long as it is by his own power. Harnesses, wagons, and other aids are not allowed. There are several different methods of carrying, but the most popular consists of the wife hanging upside down with her arms wrapped around the husband's waist and her legs draped over his shoulders. This is known as the Estonian Style.
- The team with the fastest time through the obstacle course wins.
- In the North American championship the winners receive the wife's weight in beer and 5 times the wife's weight in cash.
Should anybody be interested, the 11th Annual North American Wife Carrying Championship will take place Saturday, October 9, 2010. It will be held at the Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine. The winners will earn a spot to compete in the World Championships in Finland. The next post will be on Unicycle Hockey.
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