Corey Bellemore to make beer mile return at FloTrack Championships

Canadian Corey Bellemore will make his return to the beer mile on Dec. 17 in Austin, Texas at the FloTrack Beer Mile World Championships. The world record holder for the four-beer, four-laps of a 400m circuit event has a lifetime best of 4:34.35, 13 seconds better than any other runner. He has twice broken the 4:40 barrier including his unexpected world record last summer in Windsor, Ont. when he ran a solo race and bettered the then-world record by eight seconds.

It’s expected to be Bellemore’s fifth beer mile.

Also in the field is former world record holder Lewis Kent, who ran 4:47.17 at the FloTrack Championships in 2015. It was during that time that Kent raised the profile of the sport as he appeared on Ellen. Canadian Corey Gallagher, the fifth fastest of all-time, is also in the field for the Dec. 17 race. Both men became the first to run a beer mile in under 4:50 at the second annual FloTrack Championships last December.

4️⃣ ?
4️⃣ 400m laps@CoreyBellemore does the #BeerMile in 4:34 for a new WR ?

Details: https://t.co/dPQ6VRGdue pic.twitter.com/9OKVvpVyVC

— CanadianRunning (@CanadianRunning) July 31, 2016

It was unclear whether Bellemore would return to the beer mile as he is one of Canada’s top up-and-coming middle-distance runners. He has been focusing on cross-country for the better part of the fall; he won the Ontario University Cross-Country Championships and finished seventh at the Canadian University Cross-Country Championships.

The site of the event is not a standard 400m track. Rather, the championships are held at the offices, specifically the parking lot, of the Austin American-Statesman. A 400m loop is fenced off and athletes drink one 355 mL beer, minimum five per cent alcohol, at the beginning of each loop. Vomiting results in a mandatory penalty lap.

In the women’s field, American Erin O’Mara, the current world record holder, returns to Austin as the defending champion. As FloTrack writes, “six of the top seven women’s beer miles of all time were run at the first two FloTrack Beer Mile Worlds.”

Anne Belanger is the top Canadian woman announced as part of FloTrack’s elite start list. With nearly one month until the championships, there may be other Canadians added to the list. The FloTrack Championships are one of two “global” beer mile events along with the summer’s Beer Mile World Classic, where Bellemore set the current men’s world record.

The event begins at 1:00 p.m. local time on Dec. 17. The FloTrack Championships are open to the public.

Elite start list

Confirmed elite men / Beer mile PB / All-time rank
Corey Bellemore 4:34.35 (1)
Lewis Kent 4:47.17 (2)
Corey Gallagher 4:48.62 (5)
Garrett Cullen 4:54.5 (6)
Philippe Parrot-Migas 4:55.53 (7)
Josh Harris 4:56.2 (9)
Chris Robertson 5:02.0 (12)
Brian Anderson 5:05.2 (13)
Michael Johnson 5:06.0 (14)
Michael Cunningham 5:07.9 (15)

Confirmed elite women / Beer mile PB / All-time rank
Erin O’Mara 6:08.0 (1)
Andrea Fisher 6:28.2 (3)
Chris Kimbrough 6:28.6 (4)
Caitlin Batten 6:41.0 (7)
Anne Belanger 6:50.78 (11)
Elizabeth Laseter 6:53.0 (13)
Susie Rivard 7:01.01 (15)