Run for your wife! Husbands compete in the annual Wife Carrying Race, dragging their husbands through a 1,200-foot course…where one contestant carries their dog across the field

Spouses took to the racetrack today as the bizarre annual women’s carrier race kicked off, in which dozens drag their spouses down a 1,200-foot course.

Couples were photographed scrambling over bales of straw and dodging buckets of water as part of the 15th British Women’s Carrying Race in Dorking, Surrey.

According to organizer Trionium, the transported team members – not necessarily women or females – had to weigh at least 50 kg or carry a backpack full of equipment to participate.

At today’s race, a competitor dressed as a dog was even seen carrying his puppy across the field because they were ‘married’.

Those who cross the finish line first will be crowned winners and have a chance to compete in the Women’s Wear World Championships in Finland in July.

Race organizers say competitors can use any of the “many recognized holds” to transport their wives, including the “very fast” Estonion Hold (pictured).

Today, even a contestant was spotted with his dog because they were “married”.

The losers of the race receive a ceremonial pot noodle and dog food, while the person who carried the heaviest woman gets a pound of sausage for refreshment.

After the annual race, the oldest porter also gets a can of sardines and a jar of Bovril.

But all finishers will receive a keg of Greensand Ale from Surrey Hills Brewery for their participation.

Trionium explained: “Men or women carry a ‘woman’ (who must be alive, human, at least 18 years old, male or female, and need not be the wearer’s wife). Everyone who is transported must wear a helmet.”

Each year, contestants are allowed to use “many licensed handles” to transport their wives, including back, fire or shoulder rides.

Trionium claimed that the Estonian hold was “very fast” (a woman hanging upside down on another person’s back, legs crossed in front of the man’s face), while an inverted Estonian called Dorking Hold was “not so fast not”.

Organizers believe that women’s wear began more than twelve centuries ago, in AD 793, when Viking raiders sacked the island of Lindisfarne off the coast of England.

There, according to the race’s official website, they demolished the monastery before taking away all the “reluctant local maids” who started the tradition.

Wife carrying continued intermittently for around 300 years before the UK Wife Carrying Race was officially launched in 2008.

The winners of the race can compete in the Women’s Wear World Championships in Finland

The losers of the race received a ceremonial pot noodle and dog food, while those carrying the heaviest woman received a pound of sausage for strength

The organizers of the event suspect that women’s wear began more than twelve centuries ago in AD 793