March 10 (UPI) — A couple who traveled from Finland to England took first place in one of Britain’s most unusual annual events: the U.K. Wife Carrying Race in Dorking, Surrey.
The event, held annually since 2008, featured dozens of pairs traversing obstacles including hills, hay bales, water hazards and spectators bearing squirt guns and buckets of water in a 415-yard race to the finish line.
Teemu Tuovinen and Jatta Leinonen, both 28, a team known as the “Flying Finns,” came in first, earning the grand prize of a barrel of locally-produced ale.
Britons Edward Nash and Kathryn Knight came in second, making them the first U.K. residents to cross the finish line, and qualifying them to compete in the Wife-Carrying World Championships in Finland in July.
The rules do not require participants to be married, or even opposite genders, so long as the “wife” being carried weighs at least 110 pounds. Those weighing in at less than the minimum are required to wear weighted backpacks.