July 4 is Finland's annual wife-carrying championship

July 3, 11:09 AMSF Honeymoon Travel ExaminerSuzie Rodriguez

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A husband-wife team in Finland   (Credit: Sonkajarvi)

If you and your honey are like most couples, you'll probably spend tomorrow, July 4th, watching a hometown parade, going to a picnic or BBQ, and/or being dazzled by fireworks…right?

Elsewhere in the world---in Sonkajärvi, Finland, to be exact---some couples will be having the time of their lives in a lovable-but-lunatic race, the annual “Wife Carrying Competition." Held each July 4 since 1992, this world championship competition attracts contestants from all over Europe, and countries as far away as Australia, Israel, South Korea, and the USA (in 2005, former NBA superstar Dennis Rodman was a participant).

Wife Carrying is a sport, sort of, in which male competitors race an obstacle course while carrying a female teammate. According to the rules, the two don’t really need to be married: “The wife to be carried may be your own, the neighbor’s, or you may have found her farther afield; she must, however, be over 17 years of age.” (My favorite rule is “All the participants must have fun.”)

The objective: the male/female team making it through the special obstacle track in the fastest time wins the day. The world champions receive the equivalent of the wife’s weight in beer, a bag full of wife-carrying products (I have no idea what those might be), a statue with a wife-carrying motif, and, of course, world-wide fame. Prizes are also given to second- and third-place teams, and for most entertaining couple, best costume, and strongest carrier. Personally, I think they should add a category entitled "Most graceful while being slung over your husband's back like a sack of potatoes."

It's a tribute to wife-carrying's popularity that it has attained a category in the Guinness Book of Records.

Along with the two-person (man/woman) world championships there is also a team competition. The track is the same, but three-man teams carry the wife in turns. At the exchange point, the carrier has to drink the official “wife carrying drink” before continuing the race. The drink's ingredients are secret, but I'll hazard a wild guess here that it may include a bit of alcohol.

If you can’t make it to Finland tomorrow, don’t despair. Check out the video, below, which gives a great overview of Finland's yearly fete.

And you can also hit one of the wife carrying competitions held right here in the USA.

As part of its annual Fourth of July celebration, Monona, Wisconsin has a yearly wife carry festival. They describe it as “a handy, if somewhat difficult way of proving your ability to support your spouse through thick and thin!”

I’ve heard rumors of a wife-carrying contest at the yearly Scandinavian Midsummer Festival held in Marquette, Michigan. Alas, I couldn’t nail down details.

But the major go-to among USA wife-carrying contests takes place each October in Maine. This year, the 10th annual North American Wife Carrying Championship occurs on Saturday, October 10, at Sunday River Ski Resort. The event typically draws more than 2,000 spectators, all watching as teams compete for the grand prize: the wife's weight in Bud Light beer plus cash. In the closest finish ever, the winning team took first place by less than one stride ahead of the second place finisher.

No matter what you do tomorrow, or who you choose to carry, Have a Great and Wonderful Fourth of July!

© Suzanne Rodriguez 2009