At the inaugural Beer Mile World Championships in Austin, Texas, this week, Elizabeth Herndon set a world record with a time of six minutes, 17.76 seconds.
Herndon, a 29-year-old Kent State geology professor, beat many of the male entrants in the race, too, especially since not all of them could complete the challenge. According to the website BeerMile.com, Herndon, with a time of under six minutes, 28 seconds, put herself at the top of the women’s competition list.
Canadian beer miler Corey Gallagher won the men’s title with a time of five minutes, twenty-three seconds. But the world record holder is still James “The Beast” Nielsen with a time of four minutes, 57 seconds.
Gallagher was displeased that he didn’t break the men’s world record. “I had aspired to be the undisputed world-record holder. Now people will always wonder,” he said.
Despite that, Gallagher chose to drink Budweiser Platinum for his beer challenge. Platinum has a higher alcohol content than regular beers and he still ran a mile in just over five minutes–something most men can’t do sober!
Beer-mile competitors are tasked with downing a can of beer, then running a lap on the racetrack, and repeating that for each 1/4-mile leg of the race. Only seven of the 10 men who entered the contest were able to finish in an upright position.
The first annual beer mile championship was not without controversy. It was originally scheduled to be held on the running track at Austin’s Yellow Jacket Stadium, but at the last minute local officials shied away from having their track associated with a drinking event. So event organizer Flotrack quickly moved the race to the Circuit of the Americas track just outside the Austin city limits.
Despite the last minute change of venue, more than 1,000 people came out to watch the first ever beer-mile run.
As reported by The New York Times, Gallagher earned $2,500 for his first place finish and Herndon earned $5,000 for hers.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.