Dave and Lacey Castro of Lewiston, Maine have beaten another 40 couples to win this year's North American Wife Carrying Championship.

The pair finished the 278-yard course at the Sunday River ski resort in Newry in 54.45 seconds, overcoming two log obstacles and a water hole, The AP reports.

The couple won Lacey's 97-pound weight in beer and five times her weight in cash, equal to $485 ($305).

The Castros are now eligible to compete in the world championships of the contest in Finland next July.

The rules of the International Wife Carrying Competition Committee state that "the wife to be carried may be your own, the neighbour’s or a single will do; she must, however, be over 17 years of age".

Wives must weigh a minimum of 49 kilos and those weighing less than this figure are "burdened with such a heavy rucksack" to make up the difference.