by Kevin Burton
Now this one has potential.
On the Dictionary Scoop website I stumbled upon an inspired idea for a new sport my wife Jeannette and I can get involved in. The website called it "weird" and "unique" and it is both.
Wife carrying.
I am psyched!
So fortunate that I found out about this in time for Valentine's Day.
Here's the scoop from Dictionary Scoop:
"Here's a bit of advice for all happy couples thinking about tying the knot this year: You might want to add the line 'I promise to carry my spouse through the Finnish countryside in an annual competition' to your vows. Trust us, this might come in handy if you ever decide to join the Wife Carrying World Championship, held in Sonkajärvi, Finland, every year since 1992."
"The wife-carrying contest (known as eukonkanto in Finland) is a race in which husbands carry their wives through several obstacles. The male contestants might carry their wives in a classic piggy-back, a fireman's carry (over the shoulder), or on what's known as an Estonian carry, with the wife held upside-down on the back, with her legs over the neck and shoulders of her husband."
I carried my wife over the threshold, as is traditional after our wedding. That was not even a proper warmup for wife carrying. This will be a lot more involved.
Here are some of the wife carrying rules as listed on Wikipedia
- The most important rule is to have fun when carrying a wife
- The length of the official track is 253.5 meters (832 ft).
- The track has two dry obstacles and a water obstacle about one meter deep.
- The wife to be carried may be your own, or the neighbor's, or you may have found her further afield; the wife must, however, be over 17 years of age.
- The minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49 kilograms (108 lb). If she weighs less than 49 kg, she will be burdened with a rucksack containing additional weight to bring the total load to be carried up to 49 kg.
- The only equipment allowed is a belt worn by the carrier and a helmet worn by the carried.
- The contestants run the race two pairs at a time, so each heat is a contest in itself.
- Each contestant takes care of his/her safety and, if deemed necessary, insurance.
- The contestants have to pay attention to the instructions given by the organizers of the competition.
- There is only one category in the World Championships, and the winner is the couple who completes the course in the shortest time.
- Also, the most entertaining couple, the best costume, and the strongest carrier will be awarded a special prize.
Finland just shot up the list of my desired vacation destinations. But if we don't get there, not to worry, there are wife carrying competitions held in the US each year.
There are videos on You Tube from both the World Championships in Finland and the North American competitions. Those videos were both intimidating and comforting for the competitor in me.
One couple fell no more than three steps into the race. We can definitely exceed that. But some of these guys are approaching actual running while carrying their wives. Fast jogging at the very least.
OK, so at this point, honesty compels me to report that Jeannette's initial reaction to wife carrying isn't nearly as positive as one might think.
"Carrying the wife? I don't think so," Jeannette said. "I don't think it's going to get that cold," Jeannette said, after I asked her when we could start practicing.
That latter of course was a veiled reference to hell freezing over. If you read Page 7 on Jan. 31, you'll know that national Hell is Freezing Over day is Jan. 31. But I don't think she was talking about that.
"You're not strong enough," and "I weigh too much," were two of her other comments.
I opened my moth to reply, but thought better of it.
"I'd go to Finland but I'm not having you carry me anywhere," she said.
Well wife carrying is a new concept for both of us. Jeannette had not heard of beep baseball either before we met. Beep baseball has taken us merrily from coast to coast, Minnesota to Texas, from the high to the low.
So my workouts in preparation for the beep baseball season with Cleveland now have two purposes. I won't mention to Jeannette that I am also training for wife carrying, at least until she comes around on the idea. Dear reader, you can help me keep the secret.
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