WIFE CARRYING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (we represented the U.S.A.)

We are currently in the middle of Finland and we have come here to compete in the wife carrying world championships. In just a few minutes, I'm going to put Carol on my shoulders and attempt to run a 250 meter obstacle course, including a water hazard. We have two goals for today. Don't drop Caro on her head and don't come in last.

Today we are flying to Finland for what might be our most bizarre adventure yet.

Here we go.

If you know us, you know we love a good physical challenge. And the more unique, the better. Like running a half marathon through the mountains with a stubborn donkey. Literally pulling a donkey down a hill. Riding a tandem bicycle 450 miles across the state of Iowa. Or climbing the same mountain 17 times for 28 hours without sleeping. So when we learned about the wife carrying world championships a few weeks ago, we knew we had to go. After an incredible week in our 101st country of Bulgaria.

You see?

No, I know. Today we have a good amount of travel to get to the town of Song. First, we have a short flight to Frankfurt. Training.

Our travel day ended up being more eventful than it should have been. By the time we got to Frankfurt, our next flight was already boarding, so we had to sprint a mile across the airport.

I'm viewing this as more training and.

Made it just in time to fly to Helsinki. Except once we landed, we got some really bad news.

We made it to Helsinki, but our bags didn't.

Since the airline lost our luggage, they told us they would reimburse necessities. So we headed straight to H and M to buy the very necessary matching team uniforms.

Come on.

That was fun.

Oh, man, this should be interesting. We are officially registered for the race, and we have learned that there are three different carrying positions we can choose from.

Does that sentence?

I mean, we've done a piggyback before. That's the first one. Okay.

Okay.

All right. That one's kind of hard on the arms. This is called the fireman's carry. Too revealing? I think I should turn around with this.

No, I feel pretty good. The coffee I just drank doesn't feel too good, but other than that.

That feels pretty fast.

I couldn't really breathe.

The third method is called the Estonian carrying method. This one seems the hardest to get into, but we've also heard that it's the most used. I feel like you're going to break my back. Are you ready? Use the legs.

Use the legs.

Oh, that's not so bad. Yeah.

So funny. I've seen a lot of girls cross their Legs like this.

No, I can't see anything. I think this is gonna be it.

I feel pretty good about that. You're pretty strong.

So all competitors are allowed to show up early and scope out the course. So I'm gonna walk you through the 250 meter obstacle course that I'm gonna be carrying Kara through later today. Let's jog it together. So this is the start. It looks like we have about a 50 meter sprint until water obstacle. That looks so slick after you get out of the water. Another sprint. This is actually going to be so far with you on my back around a really tight corner. And here's where things start to get really dangerous. They put down some soft sawdust in case I drop car on her head. We've got to jump over the log. I'm definitely getting a splinter on that. Then spread all the way down there, make a circle at the end. We come back this way, jump over another log. Oh, I'm like just too short to really be able to step over this easily.

It's a sprint to the finish.

250 meters did not sound like a long way, but whoo. A little winded just from that jog.

Gosh, I can just see my head going straight into that log. This is intense. By now I'm sure you're wondering how this event originated. There are conflicting theories about the origins of wife carrying on the Internet, but everyone agrees that the event was inspired by a guy named Rokonin the robber. One version of the story says that Sam Somewhere in 19th century Finland, Rokonen and his gang of men lived in the woods and were known to steal women from the neighboring villages and run away with them on their backs. This bizarre story evolved into a sport and the wife carrying world championship officially began here in Finland in 1992. Also not sure if this has any historical significance, but the couple with the fastest time is rewarded with the wife's weight in beer.

So in addition to the race, there's an entire little festival going on. All types of very interesting things that I would assume are Finnish traditions like wood carving, teepees, music, llamas. But I'm not sure that those are Finnish. It's striking me just how small of a festival this is. Like if we were in our hometown, this is a festival of a few hundred people. I'm not even sure we would hear about it. And we've flown all the way to Finland to be here.

I'm absolutely loving this day. Everyone here is so nice. I think Finland might be the happiest country in the world. Somebody fact check me on that. My tip to you is if you do fall, which I doubt that you will fall forwards so she doesn't crack her head. So we just did the official weigh in. The cutoff weight for the wife who is being carried is 49 kilos. If you weigh less than that, you have to have like a weight belt on to get you up to at least 49. Thankfully or I don't know, I don't have that problem. I weighed 58 kilos.

So I feel like to really be competitive in this sport need a large weight difference between the carrier and the carried. And that's not exactly the case with.

Us, but mentally we're very strong.

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It seriously feels like cheating eating something that tastes this good knowing that it's.

Also healthy and it's super affordable. Starting at less than $4 per meal. If you'd like to try Huel, you can do so using the link in the description below. And you'll get a free T shirt and shaker with your first order. This just keeps getting better. There's an opening ceremonies like the Olympics. We're going to walk behind the American flag.

I'm here to make America proud.

This is amazing. This will be the closest I ever get to the Olympics. Oh, say America.

Oh.

I feel so proud to stand by your side during this event. You go girl. Usa. Where's my wife?

Are you being carried? A lady never tells.

Look at all these people.

This is amazing. I never thought I'd be representing America at the Wife carrying world championships.

One of us.

That was probably top three highlights of my whole life. The amount of people who were just like, clapping and waving and smiling, I just love that this exists.

Hundreds of people have shown up to watch this. This is amazing.

The fact that we can't understand anything that they're saying over the announcements is not helping my nerves.

We're being kind of funny right now, but a lot of people here are very serious about this event.

My wife is two times for today. What is your fastest time on this track? It's 1:05. This is our first time. Do you have any tips? Yes. You run and you stay calm on his shoulders. Keep a little bit strength on the end, you know, because if you push everything in the start, no good in the end. Okay, good luck.

I feel like that was really good advice. Also, don't drop me. Don't ring it. That one.

Those are the Lithuanian world champions. They've won this event twice.

Wow. All right. The first competitors just raced and it was so long. Gosh, it just felt like it lasted forever. The guy who won literally fell to his knees when he was done. I'm so scared. I'm really nervous about the water. Oh. Different positions. Interesting. Oh, gosh. Nate better not jump in the water. No one has gracefully done it yet. Oh.

Oh, my go.

I'm gonna break Nate. Dim bucks. Dim buck. Dim buck. Woo. All right, so just support it. I'm scared you're gonna bang my face on the ground. A lady told me that she's seen multiple women get their teeth cracked from getting, like, dropped or, like, getting hit on the log or Nate kicking me in the face.

I would much rather be me than you in this race. It's gonna be a workout for me. But you have to have so much faith in me not to drop you. Yes. I'm gonna do my best. Here we go. Kara, two goals. Don't come in last. Don't drop you on your head.

And have fun. That's the number one rule. Just have fun and don't drop me.

Good luck. Yep, good luck.

May the best man win.

Okay, we're doing this. We're actually doing this. How are you?

Here we go.

We're winning. We're winning.

About to get wet. Get ready. Here comes the water.

So tired.

This is so much harder than I thought it.

Was.

Oh.

Felt like you're not working like I was before.

It.

We were so close.

I feel like I'm going to vomit.

That was so fun. I'm so happy.

You don't look Good.

Oh, my goodness.

Good.

I know. Like, I'm going to vomit.

You want to sit down?

That's the hardest thing I've done all year.

You made it look really amazing. As soon as we didn't drown in the water, I felt really good about the rest of it. And you almost won. We were, like, neck and neck for so long.

Oh, my goodness. My head feels like it's gonna explode.

All right.

That's so hard. How's your body? I usually go on, like, nice long runs, keep my heart rate low. I don't sprint.

They can run for two hours and not break a sweat. And 250 meters. Almost broke you with me on your back.

That was so hard. By the time I got to the.

End, I had nothing left. Was there anything I could have done better?

No. It was just so hard. Hey, good work. All right.

We did it. Hey, do we meet all of our goals?

I think so. We'll have to see what place we came in.

Okay. The last two competitors are the American world champions and the Lithuanian world champions. So this is a really big deal. Here they go. He's in full character. Oh, my gosh. She's letting her down.

She literally paddled him into the water. They're not even racing. This is a show.

I love them even more.

That was not at all what I expected.

Man, they're bad.

Oh, my gosh.

Look at them go. One minute, seven seconds. They did it.

Way to go. I think that guy won.

Now we've all gathered in the local school gym for the awards ceremony. I love how local this is.

The other Americans may not have won the race, but they did win Best costume. Oh, and they got a case of beer for him. And flowers.

I love them so much.

Mariempole, Lithuania.

Well, not surprisingly, we did not place first, second, or third. But we're about to find out where we landed.

Hold on. Do we get 9?

9.

1 minute and 33 seconds.

Top 10.

No way. 9 out of 20.

Well, that doesn't feel as good.

Top half. Wait, does that say we're from Helsinki? I'm so proud of you. Good work. Thank you for not dropping.

Thanks for trusting me. We both had hard jobs today.

We did.