Meanwhile in Hungary: Wife-Carrying Contest Perfect For People Who Don’t Think Marriage Is Punishing Enough (Yet)

If you’ve ever been married, you know that holy matrimony can be a helluva slog. (And if you’ve never been married, consider yourself lucky.) Having a wife is a lot of work and living up to those vows you so eagerly said on your wedding day is exhausting. Well, apparently there are couples in Hungary for whom getting and staying hitched isn’t hard enough. That’s because they volunteered to partake in a wife-carrying contest.

Last week, approximately 30 Hungarian couples entered the annual race, which involves husbands carrying their wives on their backs over challenging terrain. The racetrack is 160 meters (or almost a mile) long, includes obstacles like hay bales and car tires, and is bookended by water-filled ditches.

Believe it or not, there’s actually a technique to this shitshow. Most dudes cart their wives around piggyback-style. And some women clearly don’t trust their dudes; you can tell because they’re wearing helmets!

Race organizer Gergo Guraly said couples are drawn to compete in the event because it forces them out of their comfort zone and lets them share in a mutual achievement. We say these people are masochists, plain and simple.

This year’s winners, husband Norbert Vancsodi and Timea Szrnka, credited their win to chance. Though they “perfected” their stride in the second round, they were unsure they would have enough spunk for the final leg (hmm…did that come out wrong?).

As ridiculous as all this is, it does provide some hilarious imagery.

The Hungarians didn’t invent this punishing sport, however. It actually dates back to the Viking age, though now several countries, like Belarus, Estonia, Finland, and England, all have their own versions of it. The Lithuanians celebrate the winners with the wife’s weight in beer. Now that sounds like something worth competing for!

Cover Photo: Anadolu Agency / Contributor (Getty Images)