Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
PHOTO: Repeate winners Olivia and Jerome Roehme, of Newark, Del., compete during the North American Wife Carrying Championship on Oct. 9, at Sunday River. (Marina French/Sunday River photo)
NEWRY — Finishing with a time of 53.85 seconds, North American Wife Carrying Champions Olivia and Jerome Roehm, of team Lovebirds from Newark, Del., were crowned the winners for a second consecutive year during the 21st annual Wife-Carrying Contest at Sunday River Resort on Oct. 9.
Team Lovebirds competed against 15 other couples in the contest, which was modified for COVID-19 safety protocols. All couples raced in single heats against the clock, rather than head-to-head, and winners were selected by the fastest time for their only run on the race course, rather than pitting the fastest two couples against one another in a final heat. In addition to the race format modifications that were made to the event this year, the event was moved from Saturday to Friday, masks were required at all times except when a couple was on the course, and spectating was limited and socially distanced.
Second place was awarded to Karen May and John Lund, of team Hugs, Kisses, and Chicken Stock, from Los Angeles, Calif., with a time of 1.01.75. Lund and May also took home the prize for the combined age over-80 category.
Multi-year champions Jesse Wall and Christine Arsenault, of team Valhalla If You Hear Me, from Oxford, finished with a time of 1.05.34. The category of combined weight of over 350 pounds was awarded to team Bottoms Up, Liza and Adam Drew of Harrisville, N.H.
Built to international specifications, the North American Wife Carrying Championship course is 278 yards long, with two log hurdles and one water obstacle often referred to as the “Widow Maker.” Choice of hold is up to each couple, most of whom choose the Estonian Carry, where the woman’s thighs rest on the man’s shoulders in an upside down piggyback. Helmets are not required but often used. The North American race format varies slightly from Finland’s World Championship in that there is no minimum weight limit for the wife and the “man and wife” pair must both be 21 years old. There is no requirement for the couple to be married, or for the couple to consist of a man and a woman.
Based on the 19th century Finnish legend, wife-carrying became a sport as a result of men stealing wives from neighboring villages as means to prove their worth and strength to famed henchman, Herkko Ronkainen, also known as Ronkainen the Robber. Men who were able to carry their stolen wives in the wilderness, over stones, stumps, fences and springs, were accepted into Ronkainen’s privileged group of thieves.
The event preceded the theatrical premiere of “Couples of Wife Carrying,” a feature-length mockumentary film about Sunday River’s competition. The film, which was shot at the 2017 North American Wife Carrying Championship, debuted Oct. 9 at Bethel’s Gem Theater and will be available for digital downloand and streaming.
1. Lovebirds, Olivia & Jerome Roehm, 53.85;
2. Hugs, Kisses and Chicken Stock, Karen May & John Lund, 1.01.75 (combined age over 80);
3. Valhalla If You Hear Me, Jesse Wall & Christine Arsenault, 1.05.34 (combined age over 80);
4. Bottoms Up, Liza & Adam Drew, 1.14.79 (combined weight over 350 pounds);
5 The Big Kats, Jonathan & Megan Pearson, 1.19.83, (combined weight over 350 pounds);
6. Trump Train, Michael & Kylie Harrington, 1.24.56;
7. Arnold the Donkey, Brittney & Jeff Mason, 1.27.22, (combined age over 80);
8. Silver Snakes, David & Casey Hunt, 1.27.87;
9. Silly Dillys, Miranda & Tyler Dillinger, 1.29.06;
10. G-Unit, Curtis & Faith Girginoff, 1.32.92;
11. Team Wharton, Alex & Vanessa Wharton, 1.34.78, (combined weight over 350 pounds);
12. Team High & Dry, Wendy Hallenbeck & Greg Goodhue, 1.42.74, (combined weight over 350 pounds);
13. The Mountain Goats, Derrick & Amber Whynot, 1.43.23, (combined age over 80);
14 Domestic Dispute, Aramus & Ann Caraballo, 1.54.25;
15. I Thought We Were Going to L.L.Bean This Weekend, Jonathan Sheffi & Judyta Frodyma, 2.02.22 (combined weight over 350 pounds).
