Man Runs 'Beer' Mile in Under 5 Minutes

In 1954, Roger Bannister did the seemingly impossible and ran a mile in less than four minutes (the feat was subsequently chronicled in the The Get Up Kids’ 1997 album Four Minute Mile*). Sixty years later, another barrier of athleticism has been broken by Californian man James Nielsen: the five minute beer mile.

What is a beer mile? It should be pretty self-explanatory but I’ll tell you anyway: it’s where you drink a beer prior to running a lap (4 laps = 4 beers). Nielsen was able to do it in 4:57.

The beer mile seems like an unhealthy thing to promote, but then again, we are sitting in our pajamas eating Nutella out of a spoon, so who are we to judge? Also, to Nielsen’s credit, he’s one of the founders of California Runners, a nonprofit that encourages running because of its myriad health benefits.

*not actually true.

Fidel Martinez is an editor at Fusion.net. He’s also a Texas native and a lifelong El Tri fan.