- January 21st, 2007, 7:39 am
#54752
Relax & take a breath before you read for those who hold to the good ol' boy baptist theology about the hops...
http://www.joshcox.com/bio.html
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib ... rited.html
From the San Diego Tribune:
http://www.joshcox.com/bio.html
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib ... rited.html
From the San Diego Tribune:
FITNESS FANATICS***censored so the more philistine among us do not flood the FCC with letters.
Spirited tradition
Elite runners gather on New Year's Eve to lap up annual Beer Mile
By Don Norcross
STAFF WRITER
January 5, 2007
The official Beer Mile pace vehicle, pedaled by a guy who would only give his name as Matt, consisted of a banana-seat bike, replete with pink Barbie streamers, monkey bars, basket and a custom back-support sissy bar.
BREAKING A SWEAT
Some other unusual fitness events that ring in the New Year:
Emerald Nuts Midnight Run: More than 5,000 runners gathered in Central Park for this year's 27th annual 4-miler. A highlight: the nonalcoholic champagne stop at Mile 2.
Run-Dip-Run: Since 1969, New England runners have gathered in Mystic, Conn., jogged five kilometers to Long Island Sound, taken a dip, then run back to the start. Footnote: the event begins outside the home of John J. Kelley, the 31-time Boston Marathon finisher and winner of the 1957 race.
Ben & Jerry's 4x4: According to a link off the beermile.com web site, in December 1997, seven cross country runners at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., tried to eat one pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, run a mile, then repeat the process three times. Four pints, four miles. Only one of the runners finished. Ben Chaffey's time: 1 hour, 6 minutes, 55 seconds. Wrote Michael Fox-Boyd: “Many competitors just couldn't make it through their fourth pint.”
4-lap Beer Steeplechase: There are numerous beer-mile spinoffs. According to beermile.com, this one may pose the greatest degree of difficulty. Four beers, four quarter-mile laps, 16 barriers, four water pits. Best-known effort: 8:52.
As part of her race ensemble, eight-time Ironman Hawaii champ Paula Newby-Fraser opted for a blonde wig; 1997 Kona champion Heather Fuhr donned a fluorescent orange hairpiece.
Pretense, and for the most part ego, are left in the parking lot when it comes to the Beer Mile. The third annual event, a creation by Encinitas triathlon coaches Paul Huddle and Roch Frey and featuring members of the coastal North County's influential tri community and their friends, unfolded on New Year's Eve at a location that will remain unrevealed.
The format is simple.
Drink a beer. Run a lap.
Down another 12-ouncer (light beer not permitted). Run a lap.
Repeat. And repeat again.
Four beers. Four laps.
Barf and you run a penalty lap.
“I guess it sums up the definition of inane, idiotic and fun,” said Huddle. “More than anything, now that we're older, that's pretty much our New Year's party. Then we go home, have dinner and go to bed.”
According to beermile.com, beer mile events can be traced to Florida and New England college campuses, Hash House Harrier events in Indonesia and to numerous other places, particularly Ontario, Canada.
The Web site includes age-group records (5 minutes, 40 seconds is the recognized all-time best), plus an “abbreviated” list of the 192 accepted beers and 69 that are disallowed (beers must contain a minimum 5 percent alcohol per 12 ounces).
The local event is an under-the-radar gig, with invitations e-mailed to anticipated participants the morning of the race.
“We only want those spontaneous enough to make a stupid commitment with minimal warning,” Huddle said.
By official beermile.com decree, only canned beers are permitted. In his race-day e-mail, Huddle makes it clear that participants must live within walking distance of the event or bring a designated driver.
Sunday's event attracted 40 participants.
Former Christian High star Josh Cox, obviously in serious training for the March 4 Los Angeles Marathon, put forth an athletic display almost as impressive as his 2:13:54 marathon personal best, winning in 5:54.
Asked how his stomach felt seconds after crossing the finish line, Cox replied, “Full. It felt like I was holding a barrel in front of me. It was just sloshing around.”
Cox's victory exacted a price from conservative Christians. A devout Christian – he said he was a virgin when he appeared on “The Bachelor” in 2005 – Cox received critical e-mails from Christians, asking why he would participate in an event featuring beer consumption.
“My life is not about rules,” Cox said. “My life is about a relationship with Christ. I just did it because I love these guys. I love Huddle, this group. It sounded like a fun thing to do.”
Fuhr, a renowned teetotaler, claimed the local women's title the first two years when females only consumed three beers. (The women ran a lap before downing their first brew.) To meet official beermile.com rules, the total was upped to four last Sunday.
The Canadian's minimal experience with hops and barley proved to be her undoing. Having to consume a fourth beer, Fuhr threw up. Her requisite penalty lap pushed her official time back to 10:15, 32nd overall, fifth among the women.
German Katja Schumacher, 38, who trains regularly in San Diego County, dominated the women's race, winning in 7:01. Laura Sand placed a distant second in 9:39. Newby-Fraser took third, losing valuable time in the 30-meter “consumption zone” at the end of each lap.
“I just can't chug,” Newby-Fraser said. “I like to enjoy my alcohol.”
The key to Schumacher's performance?
“I like beer,” she said.
AdvertisementWhen she was younger, Schumacher said she would bet guys at pubs that she could down half-liters of beer in one chug.
“I got a lot of free beer that way,” she said.
A former San Diego County high school star now in college showed up at the event but didn't imbibe. Requesting anonymity, he said he participated in a Beer Mile last November, shortly after the NCAA Division I men's cross country championships. His time: 5:38.
He outlined his strategy as follows:
“Go easy the first 75 meters to get out a couple good burps. Sprint the next 250 yards. Jog the last 75 to catch your breath so you can drink the beer.”
As dusk turned to darkness, the participants sat around laughing, rehashing the challenge of trying to run with an extended gut.
Of his 9:02 mile, 40-year John Van Ost of San Francisco said, “I think that's probably the greatest physical accomplishment I've had in sports the last 20 years.”
Days later via e-mail, trainer Steve Elbogen, who clocked a 7:56, described the scene.
“A very cool elite group of the planets' top athletes secretly gather at an unknown location, quietly slipping through the shadows as they congregate for a bunch of fun with no outside distractions, fully enjoying each other, unpretentiously.
“Like 'A Field of Dreams.' What a b*****n vibe.”
- By Purple Haize
- By ECC29