Through our exhaustive coverage of the world of Beer Mile competition, our resolute team at the Beer Mile Desk has become aware of the inaugural Beer Mile World Classic, held Aug. 22 at Treasure Island in San Francisco.
Roughly 300 athletes competed in the event, many of them traveling from across the globe to participate.
It is possible but not likely that the cornerstone of this athletic contest could become standard in other sporting circles. Consider the Beer Kentucky Derby, the Beer Super Bowl, or maybe the Beer Indy 500. Okay, we guess that last one is not a possibility.
Nonetheless, the emergence of a world classic is a sign of growing popularity for the sport.
To compete in the Beer Mile, runners slam a beer, sprint a quarter mile, slam another beer, and repeat until they’ve completed a mile. The beer must contain 5 percent alcohol or higher, and vomiting carries a penalty of an extra lap.
As we’ve reported in the past, the rules are subject to modification among enthusiasts, but the standardized rules were observed at the Classic. It takes a special kind of dedication to run an aggressive competitive mile while polluting yourself with hoppy alcohol.
The world record for the Beer Mile is four minutes 55 seconds, set by 21-year-old Lewis Kent in earlier this month. Kent also won the men’s division at the Classic with a time of 5:09. Caitlin Judd took the women’s title at 6:48.
In the end, the competitors at the World Classic did not even approach the record, with some, like 25-year-old Alex Carney clocking in at 11 minutes, we have to wonder if he was even running.
Beer Mile Athletes adhere to the importance of the belch. This technique is used to circumvent vomiting, allowing the runner to remain in the contest. It is not certain at the time of this posting whether serious Beer Mile competitors will begin hiring belching coaches, but in any serious athletic pursuit, such training becomes inevitable.
Photo credit: Flickr CC
