Lewiston couple enter wife carrying event

Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Dave and Lacey Castro of Lewiston will compete in the North American Wife Carrying Championships at Sunday River on Saturday.

- dslover/Sun Journal
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Dave Castro entered the North American Wife Carrying Championships to spend quality time with his family. Castro's wife, Lacey, on the other hand, entered to win.

"It's something we can do together," said Dave, a 36-year-old football and track coach at Lewiston High School.

The youngest of five siblings, Lacey admits to being a bit competitive. "We were always competitive as kids," she said.  "It's in my blood to be the best."

Lacey, 27, recently raced her 55-year-old mother, Kayleen, across Mousam Lake in Shapleigh during a family gathering over Labor Day weekend. Lacey won but her mom was not far behind. 

"Lacey wants to tell the world that we are going to win this thing" but the coach in Dave has him taking a more subdued approach. "It would probably do us some good to come in second," Dave said. "That would give us something to work for. I always remember the loses more than I do the wins," he said. 

"You're using this race as just an experience thing," Lacey said to her husband.

"I just want to win," quipped Lacey.

"She could be playing the Red Sox and she thinks she's gonna win," said Dave with a laugh.

The Lewiston couple have an 11-month-old daughter, Nina, and Dave is ready to settle down and enjoy some family time. He has played 10 years with the "Mud Sharks," a mud football team from Massachusetts.

"Poor Lacey comes to all the games (mud football and the high school games he coaches) and she never gets to participate," he said.

So when Dave and Lacey found out about wife-carrying, they thought it was perfect for them.

Dave is contemplating retiring from the men's football league and just concentrating on the sport of wife carrying. "I could go all out and be the champion," he said. "You think I could take up golf or something, but no, wife carrying."

"She's been riding me to get out and train," Dave said.

"Me, what are you doing to train?" Dave asked Lacey.

Running up and down the football field and hauling boxes at his job for UPS is about it for Dave. "I went up and down the stairs with Lacey on my back," Dave said. "It was nothing. She's an easy one to carry. Holding on is the hard part," he said. "My playing weight is about 177, down from 185," the coach said.

"Holding the baby all day" has been Lacey's training routine.

While Dave's back is happy his wife tips the scales at just over 100 pounds, his thirst wishes she weighed a bit more. The winner of the contest wins the wife's weight in beer.

"Gonna have to put some weights on you," Dave said.

Dave and Lacey don't typically keep beer in the house, so what would they do with the grand prize if they win Saturday?

"We would have to have some people over. Maybe have a beer party." Maybe invite Dave's teammates from the Mud Sharks.

"100 pounds of beer is a night for those guys," Dave said with a laugh.