Far be it for us to criticize the beer mile, but the event really does favor the fast-twitchers among us. Even if you can chug a beer in 5 seconds flat, if you can鈥檛 follow it with speedy 400-meter splits and鈥攑erhaps most difficult鈥攏ot barf at the end, you鈥檙e not going to have a successful race.聽
Enter the , a four-hour-long running and drinking event designed to test your endurance (and your liver鈥檚). 聽Teams of two or four racers trade off running laps and chugging beers. The team that鈥檚 run the most laps in the fastest time wins.
Of course, beer has been present at relays since the sport鈥檚 inception. But, unlike chugging a beer between legs at a Ragnar, at these races it鈥檚 sanctioned and it offers a competitive edge. 鈥淚f you choose to drink a beer before your lap, you get two minutes taken off your [5K] lap time,鈥� explains Josh Kravetz, who organizes the event for brewery Oskar Blues. (This year鈥檚 races have been shortened from the previous time of six hours, but Kravetz predicts that in that time, a winning team would complete around 10 laps.) 鈥淪o if you think you can chug a beer in less than two minutes, it鈥檚 an advantage.鈥澛�
It鈥檚 certainly more doable than 5 seconds, especially if you take a page from champion beer milers like 聽and do some 鈥減ractice chugs鈥� leading up to the big day. And it鈥檚 even easier because you can drink higher quality booze than you would at a beer mile, where competitors almost always slam a can of light beer. With its low-alcohol content and lack of flavor, it鈥檚 the ideal choice. But when you鈥檙e only drinking one beer for every few miles run, you can actually indulge in something good. For this race, Oskar Blues lets runners choose from one of its award-winning craft beers.聽
Oskar Blues鈥� beer relay traverses聽singletrack聽with stretches technical enough that runners have to pass a basic sobriety test before being allowed to continue.
It鈥檚 the second year that Oskar Blues has run a series of Beer Relays, the first of its kind, and it turns out the concept is a hit. Last year the event ran in two cities: Lyons, Colorado, and Brevard, North Carolina. This year, there will be a third race in Austin, Texas, and Kravetz says registration series-wide is 10-times higher than in its inaugural year. Similar types of events are popping up elsewhere. The 聽series has several runners split up a 5K with beer sampling stations along the way, and the 聽offers samples as teams run between the town鈥檚 best breweries.聽
Oskar Blues鈥� beer relay traverses singletrack with stretches technical enough that runners have to pass a basic sobriety test before being allowed to continue. 鈥淵ou can only drink the beer in the corral [stationed at the beginning of the loop], and before you go into the corral there鈥檚 this obstacle that鈥檚 kind of a balance, hopping challenge, just to make sure you have the agility to trail run,鈥� says Kravetz.聽
While the beer relay course is less controlled than the beer mile course, just about every other aspect is safer鈥攅specially when it comes to your dignity. Because you only drink one beer per 5K loop, the beer-to-miles ratio isn鈥檛 nearly as nausea-inducing as it is in the beer mile.聽
鈥淟ike any race, you know it鈥檚 going to be a little painful, but this one you also know it鈥檚 going to be fun,鈥� says Ryan Van Duzer, a filmmaker, endurance athlete and travel show host. He did the race last year as part of a two-man team, and plans to return in 2016. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to drink the beer,鈥� he says, but he admits that at last year鈥檚 race, he may have encouraged some of his fellow competitors to drink between laps. (He聽recommends Mama鈥檚 Little聽Yella聽Pils.)
And just in case you鈥檙e worried about getting completely trashed, science says you鈥檙e probably going to be fine. Kravetz asked a doctor about how quickly someone would metabolize a single beer throughout the course of a 5K loop. 鈥淗e told me, 鈥榃ell, you鈥檙e burning so many calories that you鈥檙e going to burn right through it,鈥欌€� Kravetz says. 鈥淪o I wouldn鈥檛 say it鈥檚 officially medically approved, but I think the actual level of drinking we鈥檙e administering is pretty moderate.鈥� If you鈥檙e trying to have a tame day-drinking experience, join a big team so you only run one or two laps during the six-hour time limit. If you鈥檙e on a team of two, things could get a bit fuzzy during the final laps鈥攂ut that鈥檚 the fun of it. 聽
The whole thing really is supposed to be about fun, not running a PR. Kravetz doesn鈥檛 see the event going the way of the beer mile, so don鈥檛 look for a 鈥渨orld championship鈥� race anytime soon鈥攐r for people .聽Kravetz says that he wants the race to be an all-day party in which you happen to do some running, not a 6-minute-long sufferfest that ends in a flourish of vomit. We鈥檒l take that alternative.