The concept of a Beer
Mile is pretty straightforward.
Drink beer and run one mile as fast as you can. If you fall over or “lose your load” you are
penalised, well strictly speaking the falling over part will be a self-induced
penalty, while “losing” beer means that you need to drink another as the clock
ticks.
If you enjoy beer and running, what’s not to like? Having now run my own Beer Mile, I can answer
that one quite bluntly…. All of it! But it is an experience like no other…
There are rules
for running an official Beer Mile. It
should be run over a measured distance and four beers must be consumed: at the
start; the quarter mile point, half mile point and finally the three-quarter
mile point. All your Beer Mile questions
can be answered here.
The male Beer Mile world record is 4:57 and the female
equivalent is 6:17. Not sure if there is
a dog assisted record and if there is, would the dogs have to drink beer too?
I have wanted to try a Beer Mile for a while and a family
visit to North Wales for fun, beer and inspirational speed training sessions on
the beach provided the perfect opportunity for my first ever attempt.With the help of our friends at Gallt-y-Glyn we headed to Dinas (near Caernarfon) with beer, glasses and a determination to give it a go…
We arrived at our destination at high tide, which was a blessing in disguise as my recent running with dog on beaches pace has been around 4:30 minute mile pace and run with such effort that I feel sick without the inclusion of beer! So a makeshift route was soon created. It consisted of four laps on grass and track on the sea-side.
The first beer was easy to drink and the first lap was a jog
out accompanied by Kez. The second beer
and next lap were uncomfortable with beer sloshing in my stomach as Kroi tried
to convince me to run with more enthusiasm.
By the third beer I was starting to think about giving up beer for life,
Kez agreed and we trotted round with me holding my stomach. The fourth beer was like trying to drink beer
while struggling with a hangover, it was awful.
I fought the desire to vomit and tried to concentrate on just getting to
the finish. We turned the last corner
and I asked for Kroi’s help, he responded by dragging me through the last 1/8
mile at well under sub5 minute mile pace.
I finished and almost collapsed in a heap. I normally run ultras for fun and this one
mile challenge nearly destroyed me!
My time for the full mile, including the drinking of beer
was 7:14, with over a minute of standing around time. Would I do it again? On the day my answer was a very blunt NO. But upon reflection and consideration of
perhaps drinking my most favourite beer, I may well have another go.Thank you Russ and Heidi at Gallt-y-Glyn for your help; Ian for the never ending support and amazing photos; Linda, Ruska, Lewis and Cameron for their tolerance; and big shout out to my very special running team of the Siberian Husky brothers, Kez and Kroi.
