What do you get whenever you win the U.Ok. Spouse Carrying Race? Bragging rights and a barrel of ale

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LISTEN | Full interview with Spouse Carrying Race winners Teemu Touvinen and Jatta Leinonen : As It Occurs 5:57 Finnish couple wins 1st place at U.Ok. Spouse Carrying Race

As Teemu Touvinen sprinted over the hillside together with his girlfriend Jatta Leinonen flung over his shoulder — sidestepping bales of hay and getting doused with buckets of water — he noticed victory inside attain.

With one final push within the closing 50 metres, the pair dashed previous their rivals and received first place on the 2026 U.Ok. Spouse Carrying Race in Dorking, England, on Sunday.

They have been, after all, awarded the customary barrel of native ale.

Whereas Touvinen spent the race worrying that candy victory could be snatched from his fingers, Leinonen was busy holding on for expensive life.

"I used to be afraid that I used to be going to fall as a result of it was slippery," she advised As It Occurs host Nil Kӧksal. "I simply maintain tight on my legs and hope for the most effective."

Ultimately, they are saying, it was value it to sip the malty beverage of champions.

"It is feeling actually, actually good," Touvinen stated.

Precisely what it seems like, largely The occasion is, roughly, precisely what it seems like. Contributors race 380 metres, via obstacles and rolling hills, whereas carrying one other particular person.

It is a Scandinavian custom that has since unfold to the U.Ok., United States, Australia, Poland, and even Canada.

It is stated to be based mostly on a Nineteenth-century Finnish legend a few gang that pillages villages and steals the ladies. Regardless of the sinister origins, nowadays, it is all enjoyable and shenanigans.

<img loading="lazy" alt="A man is pictured from the side running with a spandex-clad woman hanging over his shoulders, slumped forward with her legs around his neck" srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/bd133133-ada2-4add-8183-42a4bd9386b6,1773089274137/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3500%2C2335%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/bd133133-ada2-4add-8183-42a4bd9386b6,1773089274137/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3500%2C2335%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/bd133133-ada2-4add-8183-42a4bd9386b6,1773089274137/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3500%2C2335%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/bd133133-ada2-4add-8183-42a4bd9386b6,1773089274137/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3500%2C2335%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.4989293361884368" data-cy="image-img"/> You do not should be married to take part within the U.Ok. Spouse Carrying Race. (Gareth Fuller/The Related Press) It is also now not restricted to husbands and wives.

Anybody can take part, as long as they're carrying somebody over the age of 18 who weighs not less than 110 kilos. These underneath that weight have to put on a rucksack full of flour or water to deliver them to the minimal weight.

"You don't have to hold your individual spouse. It could possibly be another person's. Or a mate, girlfriend, boyfriend, sister or brother," organizers stated. "They need to ideally weigh lower than you do."

The couple first bought into spouse carrying in 2024, when the world championships have been taking place close to their hometown in Finland.

At first, Touvinen says, they only signed up for fun. However, it seems, they have been fairly good at it.

"So I believe, 'OK, subsequent yr we're gonna do higher than this, and we take this significantly," he stated.

Their second race, nevertheless, did not go as deliberate.

"We really did not do higher as a result of 10 metres earlier than the end, we [fell]."

<img loading="lazy" alt="A young and woman, both muscular, flex and pose with someone in a black and red chicken costume" srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/59df2afd-e0fe-445c-98a9-1a2428392cf7,1773091788109/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%2821%2C188%2C1473%2C1135%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/59df2afd-e0fe-445c-98a9-1a2428392cf7,1773091788109/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%2821%2C188%2C1473%2C1135%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/59df2afd-e0fe-445c-98a9-1a2428392cf7,1773091788109/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%2821%2C188%2C1473%2C1135%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/59df2afd-e0fe-445c-98a9-1a2428392cf7,1773091788109/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%2821%2C188%2C1473%2C1135%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.2977973568281937" data-cy="image-img"/> Touvinen and Leinonen strike a victory pose with the city mascot, Dorkers. (Simon Edmands/Spouse Carrying Race) However this time, he says, they have been coaching. For Touvinen, that meant lifting weights and operating, typically operating whereas sporting a weighted vest.

Then, as the massive race neared, the couple practised their wife-carrying method.

Racers can carry their companion nevertheless they like, however Leinonen and Touvinen favour what's often known as the "Estonian Maintain," the place the "spouse" hangs upside-down on the service's again with their legs crossed in entrance of his face.