From the ‘We’re Not Making this Stuff Up’ file there’s this: the Wife Carrying World Championships are underway in the city of Sonkajärvi, Finland, running July 6 – 7. Some 50 couples from 15 countries are racing for first place in a contest that tests…well, ah, the boundaries of trust and togetherness.
The course is a real challenge. The 253.5-meter affair is “partially sand, partially grass and partially gravel” according to the organizers. The wife you bear doesn’t necessarily have to be your own. She can be your neighbor’s, or someone else’s – but she’s got to be at least 17 and weigh a minimum of 49 kilos. That’s about 108 pounds. Remember, she’s not heavy, she’s your wife, or at least somebody’s wife. If she somehow weighs less than 108 pounds she will have to pack a rucksack that brings her up to minimum weight.
You following all of this?
More rules: the only equipment allowed is a belt. The carrier wears it. If you drop your wife, you’ve got to re-lift her on your back, or in your arms, and continue the carry (how couples work together in this thing might be metaphor for life folks). One more rule organizers insist upon: “all contestants must have fun.”
Other than that, this is a pretty straightforward deal. There’s only one category in the World Championships per se, and the winner is the couple who completes the course in the shortest time.
In addition to the sand, gravel and such, the course is bedecked with one-meter-deep obstacles. Two of them are dry, and the other is watery. That metaphor for marriage just keeps getting stronger.
To add spice to the event, there’s also the Wife Carrying Team Competition. The same rules apply as the couples’ event, except that three guys take turns carrying the wife. At the exchange point, the carrier has to quaff the contest’s official “wife carrying drink” (no, we don’t know what’s in it) before continuing the race.
This competition may fall a tad short of the coming Olympics 100 Meters finals in London – organizers in Sonkajärvi are expecting some 8,000 spectators.
(Image: Wife Carrying World Championships)
