Guzzle with the Best: Tips to Run a Faster Beer Mile
Sound like fun? It is (in hindsight probably). So, if youâre game to give the four laps a try (after all Saturday is Beer Day), weâve got some insider tips to help you run your best beer mile ever:
1- Drink your beer warm.
Any other time this would taste terrible. Well, to be honest, itâll taste terrible now, too, but you gotta do it because warm beer has less carbonation than cold beer. And the more carbonation your beer has, the harder it will be to get it down and keep it down.
2 - Drink your beer with a 45-degree backward tilt of your head.
Running a fast beer mile involves careful calculation, you know! 45 degrees is the perfect angle for most efficiently gulping down the suds.
3 - Seal your lips around the can when you guzzle.
This is important for faster liquid extraction. Your lip-seal acts like a vacuum to pull the warm liquid into your throat. For a serious beer miler, this is precious time youâll need in the final lap when your stomach feels sloppy and distended from nearly a liter and a half of bubbly booze.
4 - Avoid DIPAs and other high gravity brews.
OK, this might seem like a no brainer … but youâd be surprised. The official beer mile rules state--in bold--that the beer must be at least 5 percent alcohol by volume. … So, keep it there. If you can stomach it, good olâ Budweiser is a solid choice.
5 - Train on a full stomach.
Like any race, running the beer mile requires some race-specific training. Consider running fast while holding large amounts of fluid in your belly (note: this is not good advice for general health or well being. Just remember, weâre talking about training for a beer mile here). A race-prep workout to try: Sets of hard 200s or 300s with a 12-ounce water chug between each.
6 - Practice holding your breath.
Think about how you feel after you run as hard as you can for a couple of minutes. You canât breathe very well when you finish, can you? Now, imagine that as soon as you stop running, while struggling to regain your breath, you also have to open and chug 12 ounces of bubbly liquid. Yep, thatâs that you will have to do three times during a beer mile. If youâre not ready, it is going to be terrible. Yes, terrible. So practice running hard reps and then holding your breath for 10 to 15 seconds after each. Take it a step further and visualize the beer emptying smoothly down your gullet as you count. (Elite athletes are known use visualization for race-day success race days.)
7 - Pace yourself.
Itâs easy to get carried away that first lap. You may drink your beer too fast and gun it from the start. If youâre not careful, this could set you up for major cramps and race-duration discomfort. Remember to pace yourself. Open and drink your beer smoothly and deliberately, taking care to prevent unwanted shakeup.
8 - Appoint a designated driver for you and your group.
You will finish your fourth lap and, after recovering from intense nausea (if you donât throw up), youâre likely going to feel at least a little tipsy. If youâre not walking or jogging home, itâs crucial that you have a friend there to drive you and the rest of your sloshed competitors home. Plus, you need at least one sober person there to time the race and tally results.
9 - Have fun.
Come on; itâs ridiculous that youâre doing this in the first place. Who in their right mind would run a hard mile while chugging four beers? Yep, runners are the only group that could even conceive of such a daft idea. Embrace your weirdness, and enjoy it.
** A note: We are in no way advocating participation in binge drinking or other dangerous behaviors. Running fast while drinking beer is not a safe activity. Participate at your own risk. **
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