Carry on running: Finnish couple wins international 'wife carrying' obstacle race
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Finnish couple has narrowly won the 19th World Wife Carrying Championships — a quirky competition in which men race to be the fastest while carrying a female teammate.
Ville Parviainen and Janette Oksman cleared the grueling 253.5 meter (278-yard) obstacle course in 63.75 seconds, less than a second ahead of Britain's Rich Blake Smith and Anna Marguerite Smith.
Thirty-six couples from a dozen countries including Australia, Japan, and the United States took part in the race, which was held Saturday in the central Finnish municipality of Sonkajarvi, north of the capital, Helsinki.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The rules stipulate that the woman must be over 17 years of age and weigh at least 49 kilograms (108 lb). Organizers say male contestants could "borrow a neighbor's wife" if they didn't have a female companion.