Michigan Beer Mile

First, I just want to say that the following is a very light-hearted post; but I am not trying to ignore what's going on in Paris right now. I'm just not sure what to say about it. I'm sad and tired of these horrible things happening. It makes me afraid for my kids and the world they have to grow up in. Each time something like this happens, it just plants another seed of fear in my stomach. So, while it may seem insensitive to go on like nothing is happening, I'm just not sure how else to react. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those people affected by the tragedy in Paris.

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I've heard of people doing "beer miles" before, but I'd never seen one or even knew of any around here. The thought is completely unappealing to me: Drink a 12-oz beer, run a quarter-mile lap; repeat three more times, for a total of four beers and four laps (one mile). No vomiting allowed ;)

My brothers are stupid crazy enough to do it, though. And of course, I had to go watch!

I picked up Nathan, and my mom drove Brian there. It was at Flat Rock Speedway, which normally has car races. I was surprised at how many people were there, because it wasn't heavily advertised. My brothers registered on the spot, and we stood around for 40 minutes or so while we waited until the race started (3:00 pm).

Nathan said his plan was to run his best, while Brian said he was just going to run for fun--and clearly, he wasn't planning to try and win the race, considering his choice of clothing ;)

Brian is in the jorts and boots

I was very curious about how the whole race would work. For the $45 registration fee (it was $35 yesterday, but when you register on-site, it's $45), you get a shirt, hat, a couple of beer koozies, and the four beers for the race. Not bad!

To keep all the runners' beers organized, they gave each runner a piece of paper with their bib number, so you could set your cans on top of that:

I think there were a total of about 25-30 runners. There was a 10-meter area just before the official start line, and that was the "beer drinking" area, that didn't count toward the quarter-mile lap. Everyone started just before that line, and then when the announcer started the race, everyone opened their beers, moved into that area, and drank them. Then they had to turn the beer upside down over their head, to prove that they drank the whole thing, and then they could start their first lap.

Nathan was actually the first person to finish his beer and cross the official starting line! I knew he'd be pretty fast, but there was a guy that blew past him in the first lap. The race was fun to watch! There were some people who took it pretty seriously, but there were also a lot of people that were obviously there just for fun. Brian was one the latter:

I watched a couple more people pass Nathan. He said he started feeling pretty crappy for the last two laps, and the hardest part was running with all that carbonation in his stomach. Brian was running at an easier pace, but he said it was harder than he expected it to be.

Nathan came cruising through the finish line in 8:07! (Drinking four beers AND running a mile in 8:07? That's really fast!) He placed fourth overall. The winner finished in around 7:30.

I'm not sure what Brian's finishing time was:

Both of them said the race was much harder than they expected it to be, and that the worst part was the carbonation of the beer making them burp as they started each lap. It was fun (and interesting) to spectate, but I still have no desire to do a beer mile!