Ontario’s Lewis Kent smashes beer mile world record

Lewis Kent shaved three seconds off the beer mile world record on Tuesday evening in London, Ont., running 4:51.9 for the four-lap, four-beer race.

The University of Western Ontario student held the world record in 2014 before fellow Canadian Corey Gallagher bested the record. Kent’s time was ratified by BeerMile.com on Wednesday and eclipses Gallagher’s previous best of 4:54.4 as the two have gone back and forth in setting world records.

Kent is set to compete at the 2015 FloTrack Beer Mile World Championships on Dec. 1 in Austin, Texas, a field that also features Gallagher, the reigning FloTrack world champion. Kent won the Beer Mile World Classic in San Francisco last August.

The beer mile event has seen a surge in popularity lately and requires competitors to drink four beers, with a minimum alcohol content of five per cent, and complete four laps of a 400m track.