Wife carrying filling the fitness bucket list

(NECN: Marnie MacLean, Newry, Maine) – They look like any happy couple enjoying New England’s fall colors. But make no mistake, Joe and Nicole Decker are fierce competitors and they have come all the way from California for the North American Wife Carrying Championships. “I looked at him and said you want to do what with me?” Nicole Decker said. The competition traces its roots back to Finland and fair warning to other teams, Joe holds the Guinness World Record as the World’s Fittest Man. “I’ve done the 520 mile trans-Himalayan adventure race,” Decker said. “i’ve run across the Sahara desert” But he’s never done those things while carrying his wife, and I”ve never interviewed anyone upside down. Sure, it seems silly, but this is a sanctioned event and the course is tough, lots of mud. Each team has to make it over a log and the water hazard. The winner gets the chance to compete at the world championship in Finland, some cash and perhaps the most coveted prize of all. “We’re here for the beer!” Joe Decker said. The winner gets the wife’s weight in beer. It may not be the most prestigious event on Joe’s bucket list of fitness, but it will probably be more fun than crossing the Sahara.