Alberta is known for some outrageous things, and one spot in the province holds an annual wife-carrying competition, with the winners receiving beer and cash as prizes.
The competition is held by the Lac La Biche Agricultural Society along with the Lakeland County Fair in northern Alberta.
Competitors run the race course two teams at a time, and the three fastest teams qualify for prizes. The course is 254m/278 yards long and features dry and wet obstacles.
The winning team gets the wife’s weight in beer and five times her weight in cash, with the runner-up teams receiving half or one-third of that amount.
Teammates are not required to be legally married and must be a minimum of 20 years of age.
@llbtourism couples from across Alberta and Saskatchewan competed in the second annual wife carrying championship race at the Lakeland Country Fair today 🏃♀️🏆#explorealberta #goeastofedmonton #laclabicheregion #wifecarrying #wifecarryingrace ♬ Let’s Go – JAXSON GAMBLE
The first modern-day wife-carrying event was held in Finland in 1992 and is now held annually in Sonkajarvi, Finland, as the World Championship. A North American Championship was started in 1999 at Sunday River Resort in Maine. The North American Wife Carrying Championship has been held annually ever since.
The Alberta Wife Carrying Championship was started in 2023 by the Lac La Biche Agricultural Society.
Would you be interested in taking part in this wife-carrying competition? Let us know in the comments below.