Here’s something to be proud of (at least, we are): a fellow young Canadian has broken the world record for the beer mile – a race that combines running and drinking beer.
For those in the dark, runners chug a beer then run a lap, for each of the four laps of a mile.
Twenty-one year old Lewis Kent from Mississauga, Ontario – a fourth-year kinesiology student at the University of Western Ontario – achieved the title (again) on Tuesday night, undoubtedly becoming the coolest kid on campus in the process.
Since his big win, media outlets like ESPN, TMZ, and Sports Illustrated are lining up for interviews with Kent, who just completed his senior cross-country season with the University of Western Mustangs. Oh, and he’s also signed a shoe and apparel deal with Brooks (who says drinking beer doesn’t pay off?).
Kent completed the run in four minutes 51.9 seconds, beating the previous mark of 4:54.38 set by Winnipeg’s Corey Gallagher in October. He and Gallagher have been trading the world record as of late: Kent had already lowered it in August before Gallagher reclaimed it last month.
With Amsterdam Beer the brew of his choice, Kent ran the race at a local London, Ontario high school to celebrate the end of the track season.
We can also take pride in the fact the ‘the beer mile’ is a Canadian invention (right?) – and something that Canadians of both sexes have dominated since it became a thing in the late 1970s by a group of runners at Queen’s University.
In the weeks before running a beer mile, Kent will apparently consume between three and five beers during interval training. While he’s in cross-country or track season, however, he trains by chugging non-alcoholic beer, periodically through the day.
And yes, we’re serious.
And no, he’s not free to work on his beer belly now either: Kent and Gallagher will race head-to-head at the FloTrack Beer Mile World Championships on Dec. 1 in downtown Austin, Texas.
Gallagher won the world championships last year in 5:00.23, while Kent was fifth in 5:32.58.
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