The Dave Smart Beer Mile.

Christopher Kelsall

December 16, 2008

______________________________________________________________________________________

RESULTS

December 17, 2008

**Note 14 of the top 20 finishers used craft (micro) brewery beer.

*Ice and snow on the track slowed results.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Dave Smart Beer Mile – Victoria, British Columbia - December 16, 2008 - The fifth annual Dave Smart Beer Mile takes place tonight at the Jack Wallace Memorial Track in Victoria, BC at 6:30 pm PST – 9:30 pm EST.

Victoria runner, Jim Finlayson holds the current and official world record for the Beer Mile, which he set in 2007. Jim ran and drank to a blazing time of 5:09 eclipsing his own unofficial Beer Mile world standard set the year before (without video representation - to prove the accomplishment).

Finlayson has run this event on at least two previous occasions. His official second fastest time still stands at 5:20. His 5:13 record will remain unofficial as he used Guinness in 2005, which does not contain the required percentage of alcohol content, just incredible flavour. The minimum percentage of alcohol is 5%. Guinness contains only 4.2%.

2007 Finlayson got his redemption. While following the rules, he further eclipsed his own world record making the official time of 5:09. Makes me proud to call myself Canadian.

Finlayson is a Michigan State Alumni, who owns a marathon personal best of 2:18, is a two time Canadian Marathon Champion and has competed in the World Track and Field Championships.

Another local athlete and a University of Victoria Alumni, Nick Walker owns the 12th fastest Kingston time with a 5:57, using the same beer as Finlayson, Granville Island, Winter Ale. Granville Island Winter Ale according to Walker’s agent Mark Nelson, “provides a Vanilla-yee finish. It’s been the beer of choice the past couple of years.”

Finlayson will not be racing, but Nick Walker will and at press time stands out as one of the meet favourites. Also, on tap as a contender is Eric Findlay. And not to be counted out as a serious threat is the infamous Steven ‘Merm’ Murenbeeld, who is also a University of Victoria Alumni. He owns a 1500m 3:50 personal best, possibly done without the use of beer.

Nick Walker and Jim Finlayson believe they can both eclipse the 5:00 minute barrier. They will attempt this under warmer conditions during the summer of 2009.

Tonight’s weather however, will prove to be tough to contend with as temperatures remain unseasonably cold and there is snow on the track.

Dave Smart

The race is named in honour of local Victoria, BC athlete Dave Smart, who competed in several ironman events, shorter triathlon races and standard marathons. He succumbed to Malignant Melanoma after bravely fighting with the disease no less than three times from 2002 to 2004. Proceeds will go to the The Dave Smart Foundation to continue to educate people on the risks of Melanoma, the benefits of a “balanced lifestyle”, to share preventative measures, and raise the necessary funds to support on-going research.

The Beer Mile

Official Beer Mile Rules

1. Each competitor drinks four cans of beer and runs four laps on a track (Start - beer/lap, beer/lap, beer/lap, beer/lap - finish).
2. Beer must be consumed before the lap is begun, within the transition area which is the 10 meter zone before the start/finish line on a 400m track.
3. The race begins with the drinking of the first beer in the last meter of the transition zone to ensure the comptitors run a complete mile (1609 meters).
4. Women drink four beers in four laps (past rule lists only required ladies to drink three beers).
5. Competitors must drink canned beer and the cans should not be less than 355ml (the standard can volume) or 12oz (the imperial equivalent). Bottles may be substituted for cans as long as they are at least 12 oz (341 ml) in volume.
6. No specialized cans or bottles may be used that give an advantage by allowing the beer to pour at a faster rate. ie "super mega mouth cans" or "wide mouth bottles" are prohibited.
7. Beer cans must not be tampered with in any manner, ie. no shotgunning or puncturing of the can except for opening the can by the tab at the top. The same applies with bottles - no straws or other aids are allowed in order to aid in the speed of pouring.
8. Beer must be a minimum of 5% alcohol by volume. Hard ciders and lemonades will not suffice. The beer must be a fermented alcoholic beverage brewed from malt and flavored with hops. For an abbreviated list of valid beers and exceptions, click here.
9. Each beer can must not be opened until the competitor enters the transition zone on each lap.
10. Competitors who vomit before they finish the race must complete one penalty lap at the end of the race (immediately after the completion of their 4th lap). Note: Vomitting more than once during the race still requires only one penalty lap at the end.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Chris is a member of the Lydiard Foundation

Contact: chriskelsall@flocasts.org

Post a Comment

#18	Christopher Kelsall December 23, 2008 at 3:33am Tonight my beer running group and I had a beer from New York called Dark Cocolate Stout - it contains 10.0% alcohol. Last night I had a few of the best double bocks in the world, 'Hermannator' at 9.5% from Victoria, BC. Both are rich in Barley, Hops, Yeast and water, applying the Bavarian Purity Law AND making a unique beer. I say from my own opinion, enjoy each and judge for yourself which is a better beer. And yes after every surge. reply
#17	Sal W. Delle Palme December 22, 2008 at 11:08pm I wanna run this thing in the future. For training, should I just head out for a fartlek with a backpack full of beers and stop and chug after every surge? Actually, I think 4X out and backs, downing a full brew at each halfway point might be more effective. Maybe I could use that 8% Quebec beer in training to get a kind of plyometric effect? reply
#16	Anonymous Coward December 21, 2008 at 9:58pm some 5% beers in the states... coors heavy icehouse busch heavy bud?? nati and maybe some others... i have done only 1 beer mile, its a lot of fun. i think it should be an official ncaa event. haha reply
#15	Michael Koral December 18, 2008 at 10:44pm my pr is 627 i love the beer mile its so great reply
#14	Anonymous Coward December 18, 2008 at 8:58pm No we do the SJS eggnog mile in sacramento on december 20th. but this would be cool to try. haha reply
#13	Steve Burke December 18, 2008 at 11:36am this is hard! i tried it and the hardest part is keeping the foam down lol. the beer fills you up sooo fast. and yes they sell 5% in the states... nattie ice is like 6.9 haha, bud heavy is 5.0. reply
#12	Anonymous Coward December 18, 2008 at 10:26am Do they even sell 5% beer in the states? reply
#11	Anonymous Coward December 18, 2008 at 9:36am Wow. Now this is genius. I love the list of rules. Now every team in America, Canada, wherever, can participate. Quick question: What exactly is a super mega mouth can? Because most, if not all, beer cans are now "wide mouths." So, do they make cans that are even wider than that? I need clarification on that, just to be sure. Other than that, I think everything is clear. And this is just an opinion, but the penalty lap for vomiting seems just a little steep. I think vomiting is a penalty in itself... maybe not... reply
#10	Anonymous Coward December 18, 2008 at 9:06am Why isn't this an IAAF event? reply
#9	Anonymous Coward December 18, 2008 at 5:30am They have really long winters up there so when cabin fever takes over they think of something like this. Seems to me they could only make it better by running backwards and then it would be televised....but let's do that when the whole world has Hi Def. reply
#8	Don Gable December 17, 2008 at 8:40pm Other list of results at http://www.beermile.com reply
#7	Anonymous Coward December 17, 2008 at 5:10pm please record this and post online. would love to see it. reply
#6	Riki Giacchetti December 17, 2008 at 3:42pm Why is this not broadcasted on T.V.? Word. reply
#5	6:30 For 3 Laps December 17, 2008 at 12:56pm i could never finish this race but it was fun... reply
#4	Taylor Whiteside December 17, 2008 at 11:37am stuff like this makes me feel better about myself :D reply
#3	Anonymous Coward December 17, 2008 at 11:09am Oh yeah cause drinking 4 beers and running a mile would be soo bad for high school kids reply
#2	Eric Moore December 17, 2008 at 9:18am this should be televised reply
#1	Stephen Infascelli December 17, 2008 at 8:28am I hope HS athletes don't read this and think it would be "cool" to try. reply