So the whole planning of this started a couple of weeks back with a few text messages that went like … “who’s in for the beer mile?” and then suddenly it was on, we were now getting some waivers and all of that cool crap in our email boxes.
Really, there wasn’t much planning except for making sure to be there and bringing our A game, to drink four beers, and run a mile. For some it would be their first official attempt at this interesting race. So the expectations on time really were uncertain because it didn’t have much to do with the mile itself, it had much to do with the consumption of beer.
So there we were with a couple of hours until it was go time, and folks started showing up to Raley Field in West Sacramento, where the beer mile was about to go down. Before entering the stadium grounds there was some tagging of the shirts … you know NINE.RUN.SIX. style …
Once through security and check in was completed, the crew of dudes gathered for some pre-race shenanigans and also seriously discussed strategy and walked the course to sort out the beer stations. The dudes that would be partaking in the run included Run BMC, Kev, Brad (who looked like Kenny Powers for the day), Chris, Miller and Brett. Dan was also there but he was in his own zone for the day.
The participants gathered near the stage area, which was nearest the finish line. Here instructions were provided, for us we wanted to know all about the “elite” field … this was the field which all of us were going to jump in on, it was about people who were really trying to race this thing … we are talking for time, with intentions of winning the fucking belt … yes the top male and top female would literally go home with a WWE style championship belt!
After some photos and other blah blah blah stuff … we made our way to the start area for the elite field. Here folks talked to other runners, giving each other some well wishes, and having some fun … if you think trail runners are awesome … beer mile runners are even more awesome …
We were standing around and then boom, we were now off … the first station would be like 20 feet from the start where it was designated to throw down the first of 4 Coor’s Lights in a can …
The first 1/4 mile took us just outside the home run wall of the ball park, where station 2 was for the 2nd beer. This station would also be station 3. After the second beer was consumed we ran along the warning track area of the baseball field, for the second 1/4 mile. We returned to the tables for beer number 3, did another lap around the warning track before exiting near center field for the 4th beer … I happened to take down the warm beer from this table, and it was fucking disgusting! With the fourth beer down only a final 1/4 mile was left to run … This stretch took us back onto the concourse for the finish.
In order of the finish was the winner, Melvin from Yuba City with a time of 5:33 … yes 5:33 … by the way in case you didn’t know it is running clock during the beer stops! The first 9RUN6 dude to cross the line was BMC, followed by Miller … Chris (me) came in at 7:24 … then it was Brad and Brett in the 9’s … last but not least with his beer struggles was Kev in around the the 13 minute mark … it is no joke … the distance is a balance between speed and drinking ability!
After the squad crossed the finish line, it was time to gather and do more fun shit around the event … There might have been some puking involved after the running of the course … I saw some foam coming out of one of our dude’s nose before something spewed from his mouth into a nearby trash bin …
All in all, this was a really fun event! Some of us are already looking at another nearby beer mile event in San Jose this summer … Oh and check out the post race interview with Run BMC.
9RUN6 