NEWRY, Maine (AP) — Carrying your wife over the threshold means good luck in your new marriage.

Carrying your wife over the threshold of an obstacle course featuring log hurdles, sand traps and water hazards could mean beer and cash prizes.

Thousands of spectators are expected to be on hand Saturday for the 17th annual North American Wife Carrying Championship in Newry, Maine.

The event features male competitors completing a 278-yard course while carrying a woman.

There are 50 teams participating in the event, which features both married and unmarried couples. The winner gets the weight of his "wife" in beer and five times her weight in cash.

Saturday's first-place finisher gets to participate in the world championship next year in Finland, where the event got its modern start in 1992.