People on YouTube are competing in a crazy new athletic feat–the beer mile

The beer mile. Something you may not have heard of if you haven’t spent a lot of time around college athletes or frat houses, but it’s exactly what it sounds like. According to the official rules, it goes something like this: chug a beer, run a lap, repeat until you’ve run a mile.

Apparently this has been going on for who-knows-how-long, but this Saturday the world’s top beer mile champions from around the world (okay, probably just the U.S., Canada, and Australia) will converge in San Francisco for the Beer Mile World Classic.

“The average person’s reaction to the beer mile is, ‘Oh wow, that’s insane. I want to see one,’”John Markell, one of the organizers of this weekend’s event, told Sporting News. “With YouTube, we’re able to instantly show them video of one.”

The SF Beer Mile Classic is open to all, and will be followed by the Beer Mile World Classic which will feature the likes of James “The Beast” Nielsen, who ran the world’s under five minute beer mile in April last year:

But he was soon beaten out by Australian Josh Harris:

And Canadian Lewis Kent:

Looks like it’s not just dudes getting into the beer mile:

The official rules remind us:

Competitors who vomit before they finish the race must complete one penalty lap at the end of the race (immediately after the completion of their 4th lap). Note: Vomitting more than once during the race still requires only one penalty lap at the end. * It is strongly recommended, when attempting official records, to tip the empty beer can or bottle over your head at the end of a chug to verify an empty vessel.

Sounds like a riot.