NEWRY, Maine (AP) — An annual event involving dirt, beer and money has once again attracted dozens of eager competitors…
NEWRY, Maine (AP) — An annual event involving dirt, beer and money once again drew dozens of enthusiastic competitors to a Maine ski resort Saturday.
More than 30 couples competed in the North American Wife Carrying Championship, a 278-yard (254-meter) race in which competitors splash in water, jump over logs and trudge through mud , while carrying their partner like a sack of potatoes.
The sport’s origin story isn’t entirely politically correct. It is based on a 19th-century Finnish legend involving a man known as “Ronkainen the Thief,” whose gang was known for pillaging villages and carrying off women, according to one of the explanations included on the Wife website -carrying.org.
Traditionally, the Finnish event featured male competitors carrying a female. On Saturday, competing couples did not need to be married, nor did they have to be a man and a woman.
One contestant – the porter – was dressed as Mr. Incredible, while his “wife” was dressed entirely in pink. They and others were warmly cheered by crowds on both sides of the Sunday River Ski Resort course. Most managed to move down the grassy hillside, but a few stumbled through the mud, their female partners jumping before regrouping and continuing on their way.
Most participants use a technique in which the “woman” is carried like a backpack – upside down – to ensure the riders’ arms are free for the greatest agility. Wearing smiles and grimaces, the competitors find themselves wet and muddy.
The champion leaves with the “woman’s” weight in beer and five times the “woman’s” weight in cash. To estimate how much they win, the winning “woman” is placed on one side of a see-saw scale which the organizers balance on the other side with crates of beer.
“We come every year to have fun,” said Wade Porterfield of Cuba, New York, who competed with his wife, Sara Porterfield. “There is really little chance that we will win. Almost everyone is cheering for everyone and it’s great.
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