Sporting Event Of The Week (30)

Last Sunday heralded a welcome return of the UK Wife Carrying Championships to The Nower, a nature reserve just outside the Surrey town of Dorking. Run over a course 380 metres in length and with obstacles to overcome such as hay bails and water hazards, the winners have the honour of representing the UK in the World Wife Carrying Championships which will be held in Finland in July. On top of that they receive a barrel of local ale and £250 towards their travel expenses. The competitors finishing in last place did not go home empty handed, receiving a pot noodle and some dog food. All competitors get a medal and a mini-cask of Pilgrim Ale.

Established in 2008, the competition’s rules are strict. The carrier can be either male or female and they do not need to be married to the person they are carrying who must have given their consent, be aged over 17, and weigh over 49kgs. Competitors who tip the scales under the minimum weight requirement have to carry a rucksack filled with cans of baked beans and other objects to get them up to the required weight.

There is no particular technique demanded but the most recognized carrying styles are the piggyback which is popular, but slow, the shoulder-ride precarious, possibly high-risk, but could be quite fast, the ‘Fireman’s Carry’ – where the ‘wife’ is carried across or over the shoulders – uncomfortable for both carrier and ‘wife’, and the fastest position, the Estonian carry – where the ‘wife’ hangs upside-down on the carrier’s back, with their legs over the carrier’s shoulders and the wife’s head in the ‘danger zone,’ next to the carrier’s bum. Possibly the least fast – but the funniest – is the reverse Estonian, or Dorking Hold, pioneered in Dorking in 2013, which is a kind of Wife Carrying ’69’ position. This will guarantee you fame – and infamy.

This year’s winners were 35-year-old Alex Bone carrying Millie Burnham. Best of luck to the couple in Finland in July.