#FinnishCrazyGames: Win Your Wife's Weight in Finnish beer

Wife-carrying or Eukonkanto originated in Finland, as all the greatest crazy things do, and there are various theories as to how this first came about. The most popular is based around the 19th-century legend of Herkko Rosvo-Ronkainen, a thief that lived in the forests of Finland. He and his thieving companions would emerge to raid villages for food supplies and women. They would carry these women on their backs as they ran away.

Today wife-carrying has spread all over the world, although the Wife Carrying World Championships have been held annually in Sonkajärvi in Finland since 1992. Australian Wife-Carrying champions are crowned in each year as part of the Singleton Show in regional New South Wales, with the winning often travelling to Finland to compete.

The track traditionally runs for 253.5m with two dry obstacles and one water obstacle for competitors to overcome. This year Lithuania couple Vytautas Kirkliauskas and Neringa Kirkliauskiene took out the contest in a time of 65 seconds. There are also other variants, like the Wife-carrying Sprint Competition.

The Finnish Crazy Games is set to embrace this sprint style wife-carrying, asking each couple compete in a time trial on a brand new racetrack behind the Embassy of Finland without the obstacles experienced by competitors in Finland. The four couples which complete the course quickest will race against one another in our main event to win the traditional prize of the wife's weight in beer, rewarding those who carry more!

You do not need to be legally married to the ‘wife’ that you carry. It could be your friend, your husband, or your neighbour's wife, or even the wife of someone you just met. Before registering to compete, it is important that you read all the rules below. Kiitos!

Wife-Carrying Rules

1. The contestants run the whole track once. The track must be completed with given instructions;
2. Using tape is forbidden. Competitors’ footwear will be checked prior to the race;
3. Competitors are not allowed to wear high heels or any other shoes that may cause injury;
4. The only equipment permitted during the race is a helmet worn by the competitor who is carried;
5. Participants are encouraged to ride piggyback or upside-down, with carried front against carrier’s back;
6.  If a contestant drops the wife, the couple incurs a 15-second penalty;
7. The four couples who complete the course in the shortest time will compete against one another in a final to declare a winner;
8. Each contestant takes care of his/her safety and if deemed necessary, insurance;
9. The ‘wife’ must be a minimum weight of 49 kilograms to be carried, all wives will be weighed prior to the race;
10. Contestants must be 18 or older to participate
11. Contestants can only compete once in the time-trial rounds.
12. You must have fun!

Finnish Crazy Games is being hosted at the Embassy of Finland to Australia on October 13th 2018 from 10am with the assistance of our major partners KONE, Finnair and Wärtsilä. The event is a fundraiser for Canteen in support of their mission to help youngsters whose lives are impacted by cancer. If you can, please donate here. Head on over to our website www.finnishcrazygames.com to learn more about the games and other activities taking place this year.