London — Having and holding took on new meaning for nearly two dozen couples who put their relationships to the test on a grassy hill in southern England.
Wives and girlfriends clung on for dear life as their partners carried them up and down hills for one of the country’s quirky annual sporting events, the UK Wife Carrying Race.
Finland’s Teemu Tauvinen and Jatta Leinonen won in 1 minute and 45 seconds on Sunday. His reward? A barrel of local ale.
The strange footrace in Dorking, Surrey is said to have been inspired by a 19th-century Finnish legend about a gang that ransacked villages and stole women.
These days the emphasis is on light fun. Silly costumes are encouraged, and racers can be male or female who are over 18 years old and weigh at least 50 kilograms (110 pounds).
“You don’t have to carry your own wife. It can be someone else’s. Or spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, sister or brother,” the organizers said. “They must weigh less than you.”
Although most contestants favor the traditional “Estonian hold”, couples can choose their carrying technique, where the “wife” hangs upside down on the carrier’s back and crosses her legs in front of his face.
Competitors run up a gently sloping hill and back, clearing obstacles like a low row of straw bales and throwing in buckets of water for good measure. The course is 380 meters (416 yards) long — “very far in the circumstances,” organizers noted.
While still established, the Scandinavian sport has a following in the UK, United States, Australia, Poland and other countries. The race first started in England in 2008.
Edward Nash and Kathryn Knight, the fastest British couple who came just 4 seconds behind the winner, will represent the UK at the World Wife Carrying Championships in Finland in July.
(tags to translate)General News
