Course stages wife carrying race

The couples compete for their combined weight in cider

Visitors to Hereford Racecourse witnessed a race with a difference on Sunday - wife carrying.

The sport, where men carry "wives" while racing along the course, originated in Finland.

It is thought to be inspired by a past when men courted women by picking them up and running off with them.

The first prize is traditionally the couple's combined weight in beer but, in Hereford, entrants competed for the local tipple - cider.

Entrants to the race, which was part of the course's beer and cider festival, did not need to be married, or even in a relationship, but the "wife" had to be aged 17 or over.

Different styles

Racecourse general manager Katie Stephens said: "We have all manner of strange customs in the west of England - from cheese rolling and church clipping through to bread throwing and wassailing the apple tree.

"So we're just adding wife carrying to the mix for our major jump racing fixture of the autumn."

According to aficionados, there are a number of different styles in which to carry a wife.

These include piggyback, the fireman's lift - with the wife slung over shoulder, and the Estonian - where the wife hangs upside-down with her legs around the man's shoulders, holding on to his waist.