Newry, Maine (October 7, 2009) - Sunday River will host the 10th Annual North American Wife Carrying Championships on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 11 a.m. Among the 30 competitors already registered is Joe Decker... known as the "Word's Fittest Man."
In addition to breaking the world fitness record, Joe has competed in many of the world's toughest endurance and adventure fitness events. Some of these include the Raid Gauloises, the Badwater 135, the Marathon des Sables ("The World's Toughest Footrace"), the Grandslam of UltraRunning, and The Tough Guy Challenge in England. Now, Decker is looking to compete in and win Sunday River's North American Wife Carrying Championship.
"My wife and I are looking forward to the challenge," said Joe Decker, World's Fittest Man. "I do these events for fun and fortunately have a wife who is tougher than I am, so she supports these types of physical tests one hundred percent."
The winners of the NAWCC will receive five times the wife's weight in cash and the traditional prize of the wife's weight in beer. Prizes are also awarded to second and third place finishers, as well as for special weight and age categories.
Couples navigate a 278-yard obstacle course while the man literally "carries" the woman. Women are allowed to carry men, which occurred for the first time in 2005. The teams do not have to comprise of married couples, but they must comprise of a man and a woman and both must be at least 21 years old to enter.
