Mississauga man cracks Beer Mile world record

Chug a beer, run, repeat.

The Beer Mile may have only just surfaced in the mainstream world after decades underground but 21-year-old Lewis Kent is already the best in the world.

It was two years ago when the University of Western Ontario student took part in his first Beer Mile but he quickly learned he had a knack for it.

“A group of running friends within Ontario got together and did one, so I did my first one and I think I was about fourth of fifth. I ran (it in six minutes and 11 seconds),” he recalled. “I ran a pretty good time for never having experienced what it was before.”

Largely done as a way to celebrate the end of a good season, runners are no strangers to the beer mile. You chug a beer, run a quarter of a mile, chug another beer, run another quarter, and then do it two more times.

But to actually compete and win, Kent would need to be at least a minute faster.

Watch his world record run below. Warning: video contains some coarse language

An injury cut his cross-country season short last fall but gave him time to prepare for the first ever Beer Mile World Championship in Texas last December.

“I thought – I ran over six minutes and I only need to be about 5:40 to make it,” he said. “So I did a couple of them and I got down to about 5:19. I came fifth at the first ever World Championships. It was crazy!”

By April, he had his run down to 5:05 and that’s when he started wondering if he could break the world record – which stood at just under five minutes.

Kent had last Friday’s run planned for about six weeks and he was ready to go under five minutes, but the steaks were higher from the moment he opened his eyes.

“I woke up in the morning to about five or six texts from friends saying ‘Did you see that? An Australian guy just ran 4:56’ and I was like ‘aw crap.'”

Watch Australian Josh Harris run his 4:56:02 Beer Mile

But instead of deflating his hopes, the news pumped him up.

“I guess it just got me really hyped for my own run. I didn’t think I had 4:55 in me but it got me so fired up and excited to do it that it happened.”

Kent crossed the line at 4:55:78.

The run was recorded and posted online where it was validated as a true world record. Kent would suddenly be going into the world championships as the front runner.

But he’s not placing his bets yet.

Kent said the man who won the Beer Mile last year has been relatively silent all year so he’s thinking some people may be laying low until the big competition

“Honestly I think somebody is going to come in and run 4:50 on the nose. I have no idea what shape a bunch of these guys are in because they haven’t been doing (videos),” he said.

When asked if he had any tricks of the trade he would be using to keep his world record, he laughed and said “I’m going to keep my racing tactics a secret for now in case they end up seeing this article.”

Kent said he’s proud to represent the country and right now he has a company backing his next run but he’s hoping to get a local brewery to sponsor Team Canada in the future.

“If anyone wants to contact us we’re definitely looking into that going forward,” he said.

As well, the team has made t-shirts to promote their trip to the Beer Mile World Classic which will take place in San Francisco next week.

“It’s something you really have to experience. I always recommend it. If somebody’s of legal age they should go try one because it’s definitely an experience for sure.”

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today