The Kansas City Wife Carrying Championships (Firemans Challenge) Costumes Encouraged!

The Reola Grant Center with private donations from local business and community members provides groceries for over 2,500 people every month. We are not state funded. This is a Fun Event that helps stretch our budget to help feed those within our reach. We will have BY FAR..The BEST CARS in the Tri-State Area at this car show and they will get the BEST TROPHIES in gratitude for participating with their chariots. The Wife Carry is gonna be the funniest thing you have ever seen so come on out and watch these wives/friends ride their 2 legged chariots through the muck and mayheim to be in the WINNERS CIRCLE!!! A GOOD TIME WILL BE HAD BY ALL.

What is The Wife Carry? A LOT OF FUN! 

Details
What started as a light-hearted attraction in the small town of Sonkajärvi has become a world recognized (although bizarre) sporting competition. The World Wife-Carrying Championship is yet another tongue-in-cheek event from those crazy folks in Finland. Other events include the Air Guitar Championships and the Rubber Boot Throwing Competition. COSTUMES ARE ENCOURAGED!!! Best costumed couple wins something...lol.  Hey, this is a charity event. Your donations are deductible.

Young men would go to nearby villages, steal another man’s wife (often carried away on his back) and then force her to marry him. These days, the ladies are willing participants in the competition and gladly volunteer to be carried.
Origins

Despite the comedic nature of the competition, the Wife-Carrying Championship is deeply rooted in Sonkajärvi's history. There are many rumors on how the Wife-Carrying Championship originated, but it appears to have been inspired partly by the practice of wife-stealing, once commonplace in the villages of eastern Finland and partly due to a notorious local robber named Rosvo-Ronkainen from the late 1800s. Legend has it that he made potential gang members complete an arduous obstacle course while carrying big, heavy sacks on their backs as a way to test their speed, strength, and endurance.

Apparently young men would go to nearby villages, steal another man’s wife (often carried away on his back) and then force her to marry him. This was referred to as “the practice of wife-stealing.” These days, the ladies are willing participants in the competition and gladly volunteer to be carried.

The race, which has been held since 1992, draws over 40 couples and almost 10,000 spectators. While the sport has been considered by some as nothing more than a joke, competitors take it very seriously, just like any other sport.

Contestants come from all over the world to compete.

Rules and Regulations
The event is part sport and part entertainment, with plenty of fun to be had by everyone. Some take the competition very seriously, training hard in an effort to post a winning time, while other couples are in it just for the laughs. The course is open to anyone wishing to participate, though there are a few regulations to follow. Both participants must be over the age of 17 with the team comprising one man and one woman. Though the competition implies the couple are married this is actually not a requirement—in fact, they don't even need to be related to one another. The men simply need to be able to outrun any persuing hubands and hold on to his passenger. Don't Drop your wife! Helmets are encouraged. Underage winners will get some comparable award, probably Root Beer, lol. 

The official length of the course is 253.5 meters made up of sand, grass, and a number of obstacles. The track has two dry obstacles (usually log hurdles) and one water obstacle which is approximately one meter deep (this could change-but it will be fun).   But... if you are gonna go to the World competetion then your wife must be at least 108 lbs. We think if you can grab'em and lugg'em we don't care how much they weigh-but if you want beer...108 is the minimum weight, lol. If you want more beer, carry a heftier gal.. the more she weighs the more you get ;) . 

The contestants will all run in a single heat. No smacking, poking, spitting, tripping, blocking or leg swipes are allowed...unless we don't see it then your on your own, If you get caught...SHAME ON YOU! You're out! The ultimate winner is the couple that completes the course in the FIRST! We are gonna call that the fastest time AFTER penalties, since we are only doing one heat. We figure you are gonna be doing good to do it once. If there needs to be a tie breaker the winning ladies will arm wrestle or some other ridiculousness if it happens (uness the 2 wining teams agree to re-run the course). If the man drops the wife, a time penalty is added and he has to lift her onto his back or in his arms unassisted before continuing to carry. Your safety is your responsibillity please be wise and ensure there are no major injuries. If someone needs a little help. Help them out. Be a Great SPORT, watch out for the village.  I really do suggest some kind of helmets for the ladies just in case.  This is very seriously a great event. Do NOT Hurt yourselves, have fun but remember you are responsible for your own well being so don't do anything stupid... it is ONLY Beer and the purpose is honorable...$60.00 will buy A LOT of food for a family that desperately needs a little help. 

Techniques
There are four different techniques that are employed to carry the wife: the traditional piggyback (arms around his neck, legs around his waist), the “sack-of-potatoes” (wife over just one of his shoulders), the “fireman's carry” (wife across both of his shoulders) and the most popular technique in recent times—the “Estonian” style (wife dangling upside down on the man’s back). Competitors are free to use a new technique if they like, though many have tried and failed in previous years.

Like any good man-wife activity, it is very important to keep a good rhythm. If the wife is rocking at a different pace to the man it will slow his pace. Partners that manage to keep a good rhythm are far more efficient and use a lot less energy. As with everything, practice makes perfect.

Besides the Wife-Carrying Championship there are other events that take place. The heaviest wife competetion, best costume, slowest team competetion, a Chug-a-lug award and even a Wife-Carrying Senior series for people over 40. lol. This could change at the event. I think we should award the best Sport Award and a 3rd and 4th worst finish award, lol 

Wife-carrying has grown in popularity so much that competitions are now held in Australia, Hong Kong, Estonia and the United States. There is even a category for wife-carrying in the Guinness Book of Records .

So you might be wondering what the prize is for all this action. The first place couple receives the equivalent of the wife's weight in beer . . . BEER! (which is why we don't care how light she might be, it saves us money) You also get Bragging rights and an Invitation to attend and compete in  the 2017 World Wife Carry Competetion in Finland Free of Charge...once you get yourself there. YUP!!! Other prizes will be at the competetion but we have no idea what they are. We are feeding families and having fun.

Grab a partner and enter the competition
That's right, the competition is open to anyone (you don't even need to be married – or even a couple). Make sure to choose your partner wisely though.

Start training
Carrying a fully-grown person on your back is a lot harder than it may originally sound. This sport requires both strength and endurance but if you really want to be competitive you also need speed.

Don't drop your partner
Apart from the obvious dangers of injuring your wife/partner from the fall you will also be penalized and have an additional 15 seconds added to you time and from what I understand the RELOAD is a real challenge, lol. 

BTW: No Cheating. Teams are STRICTLY one male and one female. And the male has to carry. I am not even hearing it. Find somebody else to carry, lol. These is the rules. Have fun!!!