WILMINGTON — A four-minute mile is tough, how about a four-beer mile instead?
For those who have always enjoyed running, but felt like it was missing — something like a nice cold beer — then the Wilmington Beer Mile is for you.
The guys at Party Wilmington are hosting the event, and the idea is simple: four laps plus four beers equals one beer mile.
The event is taking place at Waterline Brewing Company located at 721 Surry Street in Wilmington and starts at 2 p.m.
This is the second time Party Wilmington has hosted a beer mile, last year, the event was paired with the Cape Fear Highland Games.
“We ran our first Wilmington Beer Mile last year in conjunction with the Cape Fear Highland Games and had around 140 participants. It is an absolute blast to attend or watch. There will be live music with Chasing Opal starting at 3 p.m. and Mama Dukes mobile brick oven pizza will be there as well,” co-founder of Party Wilmington Ben Shaw said.
The event will have several categories including men’s, women’s, relay, as well as the Craft Beer Mile. The craft mile will include four beers from local breweries including Waterline Brewing Company, Waterman’s Brewing, New Anthem Beer Project, and Bill’s Front Porch.
The rules of the event can be found online, but are simple enough. Competitors must drink one beer then complete one lap around the circuit, then repeat the process for a total of four times.
The beer mile idea is not unique, in fact, the beer mile is a worldwide sporting event with a full set of rules and official standings.
“The Beer Mile is built upon two things: drinking beer and running a mile. Drink a beer, run a quarter mile and repeat three more times for a Beer Mile. It is actually a world wide extreme sport, the world record is currently 4:34 which is unbelievable,” Shaw said.
The Wilmington Beer Mile is not an officially sanctioned event to qualify for www.beermile.com standings since the official rules require canned beer and the races to take place on a track, Shaw said.
The track for the Wilmington event is an urban trail with a mix of grass, concrete and gravel, and there will be several heats for each event.
While registration is available the day of the event, Shaw said, only the first 200 people to register will get a finisher medal.
Registration can be found online, or starting at noon Saturday, ticket prices vary.
Michael Praats can be reached via email at Michael.p@localvoicemedia.com
