Newry Wife Carrying Championship

The North American Wife Carrying Championship is a rather fun competition where male competitors run like hell, carrying a teammate on their shoulders, which can only be their own wife. The main goal of a husband is to carry his wife through all obstacles as quickly as possible.

Several types of carrying are available, you can carry your wife firefighter style on your shoulders, and even upside down around your waist. You can also come up with your own style. These competitions were first held in Finland and later spread to other parts of the world such as the United States of America and Hong Kong.

In order to take part in Wife Carrying, a woman does not have to be legally a man’s wife. But the main requirements remain: age — not younger than 17 years old, and minimum weight — not less than 49 kilograms. But wives weighing less than 49 kilograms are also allowed to compete — they are simply given a backpack, thus adjusting to the appropriate weight category 🙂

The origin of the competition is rooted deep in Finnish history. In the 18th century, a gang of robbers hunted here, attacking villages and stealing not only valuables, but also women. They piled them on their shoulders, and hid in the thick of the forest. So over time, such competitions arose.

The largest and most massive of these events is considered the North American Wife Carrying Championship, which is held annually at a ski resort in Newry, Maine, USA. In 2011, the competition took place on October 8 — the winners were Rocco Andreoczi and Kim Wasco from Farmington