Hungarian husbands are giving Olympic athletes a run for their money, as 29 couples in the village of Tápióbicske recently participated in its fifth wife-carrying race. A group of men scrambled through rugged terrain and muddy puddles while they lugged their partners on their backs in an attempt to be the first to cross the finish line. The strange sport’s prize is even stranger, as the winning team is paid in beer — enough to match the wife’s weight. The rules of the race call for the husbands to carry their wives through an obstacle course in the shortest amount of time possible. The length of the racetrack is approximately 850 feet and has 2 dry obstacle courses, as well as a moat, which is about 3 feet deep. Legend has it that the race began in 895AD, when conquerors rampaged through the Carpathian Basin with their wives strapped to their backs.
