clipped from: news.bbc.co.uk   
An Estonian couple has carried off the gold medal in the world wife-carrying championships in Finland.
Men bearing their 'wives' in the carrying contest
20 year-old Madis Uusorg ran through sand, waded across waist-high water and scrambled over timber logs to win the prize of a portable sauna.
And all with his 19-year-old "wife" Inga Klauso clinging on for dear life.

Stealing women

According to the town's website, carrying weights over an obstacle course was an initiation test for local brigands.

And it was apparently also common practice for men to steal women from local villages.

The prize includes the "wife's" weight in beer but the portable sauna cabin is only big enough for one.