2015 CASCADIA BEER MILE RACE RECAP

I believe this is beer number three. This is when things started to get uncomfortable. I'm at the far right in gray.

Last Friday night was year two of the Cascadia Beer Mile, an official annual event that gets put on without much notice. It think this year we may have had about nine days of lead time and it was about a month later than last year. No worries though, I am always ready for a beer mile and instantly was "in" when I saw the event. Friday after work I stopped by Safeway to grab some beer and was lucky to find a lager from Ten Barrel that was right at 5% ABV. No Buttwiper swill this year.

After lap one, beer two.

My main goal this year was to be in the same ballpark time-wise as last year when I ran an 11:04. There was no reason to think I would be faster than last year, but I knew I had a chance as the race was no longer an unknown. I might not have been any better at drinking, and measurably slower at running... but experience does count. At most I thought I could trim off 15-20 seconds and most of that would probably have to come from the drinking part with my new gulp big, gulp fast strategy.

The race started shortly after 8:45. I got there at 8:30 and was one of the first dozen people or so... fifteen minutes later there were probably 30 runners and twice that number of spectators. It's amazing how fast we show up (and then leave). No sports going on at the track this year, so we were able to use the actual track and not improvise in the nearby neighborhood. I got a little nervous before the start of the race knowing the discomfort that was to come.

The "gun" went off and we all cracked open our beers. My beer was great for this event, light, but tasty. Not that I was tasting much. Last year I made the mistake of trying to chug the entire beer and having my stomach blow up. This year I just took big sips very quickly. The strategy paid off as I got out of the chute almost five seconds faster. I was near the tail end of people leaving though, so apparently my beer drinking skills could use some work. Shake over the head, throw beer toward garbage can, and off I went.

So, I didn't realize it at the time, but my first lap was 1:35... better than all but one of my intervals at the track from the night before. After chugging a beer. My stomach was burpy and slightly uncomfortable after that first beer, but apparently the race adrenaline caught up with me. I didn't even feel like I was running that fast, just keeping up with those around me. In the end, it was 23 seconds faster than my first lap last year.

Coming in for the final beer (and playing air drums!)

Onto beer number two. This one took ten seconds longer than the first. Most of that time was spent gasping for air. Nothing like chugging beers when you're breathing hard from running. Getting this beer down wasn't too bad though. The stomach was starting to fill up but I still felt alright. Off I went. Lap two was also done at a pretty good speed. 6:47/mile pace. I was intentionally burping as much as I could while running to clear space in my stomach.

Beer three went down about the same as beer two. Big gulps between gasps for air. I was starting to feel it though. While laps one and two weren't comfortable, they weren't pushing me too hard. Running that third lap is when the race started to catch up with me. A burp included a little bit of stomach content. Just swallow that back down, thank you very much. I could have just spat it into the infield and have it pass as spit, but integrity! Overall this lap was pretty fast too at 7:15 pace. I was ready to be done though.

That last beer was a challenge. When I stopped running and cracked it open all I wanted to do was throw up. Nothing like pounding a beer in that situation. Mind over matter. I took my time. I know I was running a decent clip and should be around the same time as last year. I also remembered this beer last year took me close to a minute. So I just beared down and got it done. It was not comfortable and it was not quick, but it was done.

Lap four. Where do I start. This was harder than last year. A real shuffle job. Really wanted to barf. Too much liquid in stomach. I can't believe this was done at a 9:29 mile pace. That is faster than my long run pace and when I'm running those I feel like it's an okay clip. This lap felt like one notch above walking. It was probably over 10:00/mile until the homestretch though now that I think about it. I got encouragement from the female race winner as she passed me with about 300m to go.

Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. Less burping. Burping might induce vomiting. By the time I rounded the corner for the homestretch I was feeling a bit better. I ended up getting in a sprinting match with two other guys. Brilliant. I beat them both to the line though. Stopped my watch. Holy shit. Under ten minutes! Where did that come from? I bent over to catch my breath. Now that I wasn't running or chugging the need to vomit slowly dissipated. My stomach wasn't happy for a good hour, but all told I was feeling alright.

In the end it was a NEW PR by 1:12! At least I can still PR at something, huh? Felt good to totally smash expectations like that. As you can see, most of the time was made up in the running portion of the event. I think I played it a little more conservatively last year not knowing what to expect. My balls to the wall running strategy this year paid off. It lead to a more difficult and challenging last lap, which was slightly slower, but all the time I banked before that really paid off.

Reflecting back, it was a really fun time. I enjoy the beer mile very much. People ask why I do it. It's a lot like the marathon. The challenge of it really pushes me. Like the marathon, it pretty much sucks during, but when you finish you are glad you did it. Plus, the people who do the beer mile are a really fun subset of runner and the whole event is just fun to be a part of. Until next year!

FINAL BEER MILE: 9:52