Somehow I went through four years of college and had no clue about the zenith of athletic partydom known as the Beer Mile. In said event, one must complete a 1-mile run on a track, pausing in between laps to chug four beers throughout the run. It’s a true test of stamina in more than one way.
This past Sunday, Chris Kimbrough, a 44-year-old mother of six, obliterated the previous women’s world record by 13 seconds in her first ever attempt at the challenge. Kimbrough completed the task in 6:28.6, the previous record being held by Seanna Robinson, who ran it in 6:42.0 back in 1997.
Despite it being Kimbrough’s first attempt at the Beer Mile, she is no stranger to running long distances in impressive times. Runner’s World writes that she didn’t start running routinely until her 30s, when she had already had four kids, but with an athletic background that includes playing college basketball and training for triathlons, she took up the sport and before long qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2007. As for a running while drinking, Kimbraugh had no experience going into her attempt, and claims that the carbonation was far more of a dominating factor than the alcohol itself.
“The run part wasn’t that hard for me. The last two [beers] were harder to get down because I felt like there was this air there, so it wasn’t going down. Having all those beers in [my] stomach didn’t really bother me as much as I thought it would. I think learning how to get the burp out more before you get to that next beer would probably help.”
Stick that in you beer bong and chug it, frat boys! The Beer Mile event is gaining speed thanks to folks like Kimbrough, and the first ever Beer Mile World Championship, which will be held on December 3 in Austin. Think you’ve got what it takes? Full rules for the event can be found at BeerMile.com, just be careful with that whole drinking in public thing whilst training, especially if you’re using a school field as your facility. Oh, and don’t be this guy….
[h/t Runner’s World]
