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By Mail Online Reporter
As a means of getting your wife from A to B it certainly isn't dignified but the annual wife-carrying championships provide plenty of amusement for the casual observer.And once again, Finland, the home of the competition, clinched the title as Taisto Miettinen sprinted fastest along the 832ft track, carrying Kristiina Haapanen upside-down on his back.
The couple, who also won the world championship title last year, finished the race in one minute and five seconds.
And they're off ...Arthur Wong from Canada and Jennifer Koole from United Arab Emirates, on the left, charge for the finish line with Antti Valikangas and Henna Saukonoja from Finland in hot pursuit
Scroll down to see a video report
Splashdown: Part of the course involves charging through a water feature, with the wife taking a dunking along the way 
The wife of one contestant is dragged through the water as 4,000 spectators looked onEstonia's Alar Voogle and Kristi Viltrop tripped in the water obstacle and were second some five seconds behind the winners.
Finns Ilpo Haalisto and Satu Juurinen got bronze.
The winning couple trained together throughout the year.
'Before I have been a lot of in a gym, but nowadays I have run a lot and that is the secret,' Miettinen said after Saturday's race in hot and sunny conditions.
The race, held for the 15th time attracted 55 couples from 15 countries, including Australia, Ireland and Poland, to compete in the remote eastern Finnish village of Sonkajarvi, some 302 miles north-east of the capital Helsinki.
The wife-carrying competition has its roots in a legend of Ronkainen the Robber and his gang who lived in the forests and stole food and girls from villages.
Almost there now: Ty Gray from France carries wife Julia over one of the wooden obstacles which lined the course which saw more than 50 couple taking part
Tuomas Huovinen (left) is given encouragement with the help of a stick by his wife Katri. While Taisto Miettinen and Kristiina Haapanen celebrate their victory, for the second year running 
High five: Contestant Julia Galvin from Ireland declares she's ready at the opening ceremony. She partnered up with 'The Secret Man' but was undone at a water feature 
All together now. Team officials gather round to heave Julia out of the water feature. 'The Secret Man' she was carrying can be seen with a top hat behind her
Glad that's over John O'Shea and Aofie Desmond from Ireland (left) gasp for air after crossing the finish line. While James Kennedy and Ciarara Crossan, also from Ireland, decided do it in style by wearing wedding clothes[endtext]
