NEWRY, Maine, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- A couple from Finland edged out 49 other teams to claim a fourth title at the 2012 North American Wife Carrying Championship in Maine.
Participants in the event had to complete a course Saturday at the Sunday River ski area in Newry that included an uphill run, a log hurdle, a hairpin turn, a muddy pond trudge and a march through a sand pile while carrying their teammate -- or "wife" -- MaineToday.com reported Monday.
Taisto Miettinen and Kristiina Haapanen of Helsinki, Finland, where wife-carrying competition originated, took their fourth title Saturday. A team of Maine residents Jesse Wall and Christine Arsenault came in second.
"Not falling in the water is the hardest part," Wall said.
