Go Niche

IN TIMES OF recession, when we all have to be prepared to carry one another, it’s great to know that some couples take their responsibilities seriously. Take, for example, Karen Geraghty, manager of The Butler’s Pantry in Sandycove, Co Dublin, and her husband Doug Fahleson.

While the rest of us were busy worrying about mortgage debt forgiveness this summer, they decided to do something positive to help restore our sense of national pride. They represented Ireland in the International Wife Carrying Championships in Finland. Each year couples from around the world gather at Sonkajarvi to watch as men run a 253m course over land and through water, with their wife held aloft and gamely wearing a crash helmet.

Contestants must complete three different types of carry including the common or garden piggy back, the well-known fireman’s lift and the lesser known Estonian carry, which looks vaguely obscene.

Our heroes travelled with a crack team of physiotherapists, nutritionists and towel carriers. Well, maybe not, but they certainly brought a video camera because the story of their gruelling preparatory regime, and all the triumphs and disappointments of elite sportsmanship, is a YouTube Chariots of Fire.

They get off to a great start, once they stop laughing, but unfortunately dreams of victory are cruelly dashed as Doug pulls a muscle.

They do, however, finish, and, Titans that they are, as the credits role we see them already in training for next year’s event, this time with Karen carrying Doug. If you’re lucky, you might get to see them in person at the Irish Wife Carrying Championships in Sneem next year.

Meantime, check them out on youtube.com/watch? v=M1DByjkk8Bo. Makes you proud to be Irish.