Trust, not muscle, was what Joseph Ryan Casipong leaned on when he lifted his wife and set off down the slippery, obstacle-strewn track at this year’s Wife Carrying World Championship in Sonkajärvi, Finland.
The couple entered under the Philippine flag, a detail Casipong describes as the whole point of showing up. By his account, he and his wife are the first Filipinos to compete in the event. “We decided to join because we wanted to challenge ourselves, represent the Philippines, and show that Filipinos can join any kind of event with courage, fun, and a positive attitude,” he said. Carrying the flag in an international competition, he added, made it feel bigger than a personal dare.
That mindset shaped how they approached the day. Casipong is candid that they arrived with next to nothing in the way of preparation. “We joined with almost zero formal training,” he said. “We did not have a professional training program before the race. We only prepared ourselves mentally and tried to understand how the race works.” What counted more, in his telling, was the understanding between the two of them. “My wife had to trust me while I carried her, and I had to make sure that I could keep my balance and move safely,” he said. “It was not only about strength, but also teamwork, communication, and confidence.”
The nerves were real at the starting line. “On race day, we felt nervous and excited at the same time,” Casipong recalled. “I was thinking, ‘We just need to finish the race safely and strongly.'” He knew the field was full of more seasoned competitors, but the couple set the bar at enjoying the moment and reaching the end. Once the race began, he said, everything narrowed to the next step and his wife’s safety.
The course tested exactly that. Casipong points to the water section and its obstacles as the hardest stretch, a physically demanding part of the track made worse by how slick it was. “We got through it by staying calm and trusting each other,” he said. “My wife held on tightly, and I focused on moving forward one step at a time. We did not think too much about speed. Our main goal was to finish safely.”
The response from the sidelines carried them along. “Many people were happy and surprised to see the Philippine flag at the event,” Casipong said, describing support from the crowd that fed real energy into their run. For the couple, the flag turned a personal challenge into something they felt they were doing on behalf of other Filipinos. “Seeing the Philippine flag there made the experience even more meaningful,” he said.
The championship itself is a Finnish oddity that has grown into an international draw, held annually in Sonkajärvi since 1992. Male competitors haul a female partner across a 253.5-meter course featuring dry obstacles and a water pit, and the winning couple famously collects the wife’s weight in beer. This year’s edition, the 29th, ran on July 4 and pulled in couples from a dozen countries, according to CNN.
Casipong frames the decision to enter as an extension of how he thinks Filipinos abroad should engage with the places they settle. He and his wife heard about the tradition after moving to Finland and found it strange and funny at first, then decided the strangeness was reason enough to try. “Do not be afraid to try new things,” he said. “Even if something looks unusual or difficult, just try. You do not need to be perfect. What matters is courage, teamwork, and enjoying the experience.”
That sense of adjustment runs through his account of daily life as well. Casipong is frank about the difficulty of the weather, the language, and the cultural distance from home, and he calls Finnish an ongoing struggle he and his wife keep chipping away at. Still, he speaks warmly of where they have landed. “It is also peaceful, safe, and a good place to live,” he said, crediting the clean surroundings and unhurried pace, and describing a family that works to keep Filipino culture alive while learning the customs around them.
