VIDEO: Obstacle course racing couples get competitive at the Wife Carrying World Champs

Need to change up the racing calendar a little? An event which took place in Finland recently is probably one of the wackiest tests of athletic ability that exists. Called the Wife Carrying World Championships, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Couples line up to compete in an obstacle course race. The husbands run it while their wives hook their legs around their husbands’ necks and ride along.

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The event takes place in a small town of Sonkajarvi (only 4,600 people live there) but even though it’s in a fairly unknown spot, it attracts competitors from around the world. This year, 50 couples from 12 countries lined up to compete.

Why would any couple bother with a crazy event like this one? The answer might have to do with the prize: winners get their wife’s weight in beer. That means this is the one time when the ideal “racing weight” is better when it’s heavier.