Finnish couple takes prize in North American Wife Carrying Championship (VIDEO)

Americans, your national pride is at stake: a Finnish couple have taken the top prize in the North American Wife Carrying Championship, following their win at the World Wife Carrying Championship in their native land.

Winners Taisto Miettinen and Kristina Haapanen defeated 49 other competitors on Saturday in the North American Wife Carrying Championship, managing an impressive time of 52.58 seconds on a hazard-laden course, says the Associated Press.

Winning isn't exactly lucrative: the victorious pair gets the woman's weight in beer and five times her weight in cash, says AP.

Finding an equilibrium between a featherweight and easy-to-carry lady and a woman heavy enough to garner a decent payout is therefore a winning strategy.

The Finnish duo managed to collect a cool $530, but they were happy to share their beer, said the Oxford Hills Sun Journal, which produced a report from the scene of the event. Ah, that Nordic hospitality.

This was the 13th such event at the Sunday River resort in Maine, and around 2000 spectators made it out to watch the muddy, somewhat ridiculous-looking fun, said the Oxford Hills Sun Journal.

How exactly does wife-carrying work? For one thing, according to the event website, the teams don't actually need to be married to each other.

Secondly, although teams need to be comprised of a male and a female, the female need not be the person carried—she can always tote the guy around the course.

The most successful teams use the "Estonian carry," says the event website, where the (usually) lady is carried upside down, freeing the man's arms for negotiating the course. This sounds distinctly uncomfortable. These women must really like beer—or at least good stories to tell at the bar.