Get to know Corey Bellemore, Canada’s beer mile world record-holder
His secret to success? Don't take yourself too seriously
On October 24, Corey Bellemore of Tecumseh, Ont. made Canadians everywhere proud when he won the World Beer Mile Championships in Manchester, England, in a jaw-dropping world record time of 4:28.1, making him the first person to run one mile and chug four beers in under 4:30. We sat down with him to get to know what makes him tick and to find out what’s next for the running-and-drinking phenom.
You might expect that someone who can run and chug as fast as Bellemore does trains for such a feat, but you’d be surprised to know that he does not actually practice the beer mile. Already an elite runner, he has a one-mile personal best of 3:57.42, and his performance in the beer mile, he says, comes down to whether his stomach can handle it the day of the race. “Running a mile is already hard,” he says,”and having four litres of liquid in your stomach on top of that is not a great feeling.”
The week before breaking his own world record in Manchester, Bellemore raced a fun, non-alcoholic beer mile against American beer mile record-holder, Chris Robertson. After that race, he knew Robertson was in good shape, but he still managed to hold him off to take the win. Robertson crossed the line behind him in 4:40.8 for second place.
Anyone who watched the race would have been in awe of how strong Bellemore looked as he rounded the track, or how effortlessly he downed his beers, but don’t let his composure fool you: even for the world record-holder, beer miles aren’t really that fun… at least not during the race. “You’re essentially running 4 x 400m, with 7-10 seconds rest in between,” he explains, “but the rest isn’t much of a break because you’re trying to chug a beer.”
Of course, being the world-champion beer miler is just a small part of who Bellemore is, and he has several running goals that don’t involve drinking. In truth, the beer mile is something fun he does on the side of his elite athletic career. As we head into the colder months, Bellemore, who lives and trains in Windsor, Ont., is hoping to take a stab at his first indoor 5K, and will be working hard at whittling down his mile PB, as well.
More than a beer miler: Corey Bellemore’s unfinished business
Outside of his remarkable athletic achievements, what is perhaps the most impressive aspect of Bellemore as an athlete, is his ability to have fun with his training — a quality that is exemplified by his success on the beer mile circuit. Whether you’re an elite athlete or a recreational runner, it can be easy to fixate on your goals and forget to enjoy the sport, and Bellemore is proof that success and fun don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
“I care about performance, but the beer mile has been a great way to travel and make new friends and enjoy the sport,” he says. “You can’t take yourself too seriously.”
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