Taisto Miettinen and his wife Kristiina Haapanen blasted past the rest of the competition at the 13th North American Wife Carrying Championship at the Sunday River Ski Resort in Maine on October 6.
The couple tore through the obstacle course in a winning time of 52:58. As you see in the video, the winning pair employed a very technical hold. From 0:45, notice how Haapanen remains as static as possible, with her hands wrapped on the inside of her knees, as Miettinen uses his own hands to maintain balance while powering forward.
"We won but it was very tough. You can run so fast at the beginning, but at the end of the track you must be very careful," said Miettinen after the race. For the victory, Miettinen and Haapanen received five times Haapanen's weight in cash, which came to the grand total of $530, and Haapanen's weight in beer. They had so much beer that they could have come close to consuming enough to strengthen their muscles, but instead they chose to share with the second and third place couples.
Miettinen and Haapanen are the couple to beat in the sport of wife carrying. Earlier this year, they won the World Wife Carrying Championship for the fourth time. Miettinen, who reportedly is a lawyer, told the Telegraph how he prepared for those championships.
"In last autumn, I started running in the track, one hundred, two hundred and four hundred meters. I think that it helps that I am now a little bit faster than last year," he said.
