North American Wife Carrying Championship in Maine

The 2012 North American Wife Carrying Championships are coming to Maine this Saturday, October 6^th at Sunday River. This weekend the Sunday River Fall Festival takes place and for over 10 years they have been hosting the wife carrying championships. Last year’s winners were Rocco Andreozzi from Bethel, Maine and Kim Wasco of Farmington, Maine. Wife Carrying teams consist of male and female competitors; however, they do not have to be married. Teams from the United States and Canada come to compete in front of thousands of spectators and will receive international media attention if they win.

Usually the man carries the women but there is an option to have it the other way around if the competitors wish. Carrying methods vary from team to team with each team encouraged to use their own method or whichever works best for them. The teams compete over an obstacle course for the best times and the winner gets a chance to compete in the World Championships in Finland and they receive their wife’s weight in beer and three times her weight in cash. Last year’s winner won for the second year in a row with a time of 49.64 seconds. There is no dropping of your wife during the obstacle course or you will have a penalty added to your finish time.