LAC LA BICHE – Jonathan and Nica Schultz made it through a gruelling course to become the first-place winners of the 2025 Alberta Wife Carrying Championship.
On the afternoon of Aug. 2, a large crowd gathered on the grounds next to the Lakeland Agricom to watch six teams battle it out on a 254-metre course comprised of three dry obstacles and a water pit.
The event was held as part of the 2025 Lakeland Country Fair, which ran from Aug. 1-2, and included a horticultural show, rodeo, live music, and children’s activities.
For the Schultz’, who travelled from Calgary to compete in the physically demanding though very entertaining sport of wife carrying - which originated in Finland and made its debut in Lac La Biche in 2023 - taking first place came as a bit of a surprise.
“Amazing . . . I mean, the other competitors were so good, and just to beat them by that, you know, miniscule time difference . . . it was so incredible how close it was,” said Jonathan.
“I did not expect it,” Nica said with a smile, shortly after the competition ended, and the couple had received their medals, along with Nica's weight in beer and five times her weight in cash.
The Schultz were among six couples who braved temperatures that soared near 30 degrees Celsius to lace up their running shoes and move as fast as they could through the course.
Keith Poitras and Candice Hall came in at second place while, Caitlin and Dave Quijano of Edmonton were the third-place winners of this year's competition.
While the first-place team gets the wife’s weight in beer and five times her weight in cash, the second-place couple gets half of that, and the third-place finishers receive a third of that.
When asked what the couple plans to do with all that beer, along with the $540 in prize money from placing first in the only sanctioned wife carrying event in Canada, Jonathan says they plan to give the substantial amount of beer away – but hold onto the cash.
While competing in wife carrying for the first time was a fun and exciting experience for the couple, getting to the finish line and subsequently bringing home the win was a difficult endeavour.
Near the end of the race, Nica said her husband was slowing down, and she struggled to hold on.
“I almost fell at the end because I had to hold on, and he wanted to run with his arms free,” she explained, recalling the race with a lighthearted grin.
Despite being tired, Jonathan kept holding onto his significant other, determined to reach the finish line.
For Jonathan, maintaining endurance throughout the competition was a challenge.
“At the end there, after the water, my legs were numb,” he stated.
As for how the couple found themselves signing up for the wife carrying race, Jonathan, who has several family members living in the Lac La Biche area, explained that his family encouraged the couple to enter.
So, the Schultz decided to give it a go.
“I loved it . . . It was so much fun,” Nica said. “And you don’t need a lot of training for it . . . You just run.”
“It’s not like about the beers or the money, or anything,” Jonathan said, noting the large crowd that had assembled in the afternoon heat to watch the spectacle. “It was just great to hear those cheers and have some entertainment for them.”
