‘Uncomfortable’ chug and run: Windsor’s Bellemore remains Beer Mile world champion

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It’s a race that looks fun, but you know there’s trouble.

Windsor’s Corey Bellemore, racing alongside his brother, Justin, retained his championship status as the best beer-chugging runner on the planet on Saturday in the World Beer Mile Classic at the University of Windsor’s Alumni Stadium.

The event sees runners chug a beer to start the race, then chug another beer with each circle of the track, for a total of four beers down the hatch.

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Some 60 male and female runners from 13 countries participated in races on Saturday.

Bellemore finished the race in a time of 4:30:47. That’s just a couple of seconds shy of the world record time of 4:28:10 he set in Manchester, England in 2021, but a long way ahead of the second-place finisher, Andrew Benkovsky of the United States, who finished almost 27 seconds behind. Brother Justin finished in a time of 5:50:93

While one runner was spotted emptying his stomach onto the track during the race, Bellemore is an old pro at 29 and knows how to handle his suds at full speed, chugging and running.

He has freely admitted in the past that the race is “awful.” After this weekend’s race, he agreed that’s still the case.

“After you’re done, you’re a little more calm, a little more thankful,” Bellemore said. “The feeling … the carbonation, I can’t describe it with any other word than uncomfortable.”

Runners say the race is too fast for the alcohol to kick it. It’s what’s in the belly that’s the issue.

“Just the movement, with liquid in your stomach,” said Bellemore. “It’s … the heaviness, the content, the carbonation. You have to burp during the race and that’s the only thing that saves you from building up.”

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He said he tried to run a conservative first lap this time, and that may have contributed to him missing the world record in what may be his last attempt.

“I can’t complain,” he told the cheering crowd after the race. “It was a great experience and I feel good now that it’s all done.

Bellemore said he was “super happy” to bring the race to Windsor. 

“Putting on an event like this in my hometown is an awesome feat,” he told former Beer Mile runner Lewis Kent in an interview for Beer Mile Media after the race. “I’m just happy everyone’s here.”

Bellemore, who has participated in the Olympic trials and has been a national champion on the track, attended Riverside Secondary School and ran track for the University of Windsor Lancers.

His beer mile career has taken him all over North America and Europe.

After the race, Bellemore told the crowd he may be hanging up his bottle opener.

“It’s quite possibly my last beer mile ever,” he said.

And does the experience of chugging beer on the track — he’s known for drinking Barrie-based craft beer Flying Monkeys Beer Mile Lager — have any impact on his appreciation for suds?

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“It makes me appreciate the times where I can go with friends and catch up and just enjoy it and do it slowly,” he said.

Justin got into racing the beer mile at his brother’s request, since more runners were needed for the Canadian team last year in Chicago.

“I thought alright, I guess I’d better step up for this,” Justin said after the race on Saturday.

Any trepidation about the race?

“When you’re in beer three and four, you’re just regretting signing up for this thing,” he said.

He prepares by practising chugging water, but he likely won’t be making a career of the beer mile.

“I likely won’t keep going,” he said. “It’s just a fun event. It’s nice to see a big turnout in Windsor.”

Glasgow native Chris Russell raced for Scotland, finishing fourth. He got into the beer mile culture during his university days. “When I went to University in St. Andrews we decided it would be fun to do a chunder mile, which is the U.K. equivalent, where we do pints and you’re allowed to throw up.

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“That was great fun. We went out to set out a good time. Then I saw this (Beer Mile World Classic) on YouTube and I thought, ‘I could do that.’”

Russell has participated each year since the Berlin race in 2019.

Between racing and drinking, “there’s lots of people that can do one or the other, but combining them isn’t guaranteed,” Russell said.

“I was okay the first time I tried combining them. And then I just get a bunch of practice in. You leave a bottle near your sink and you chug water every day. And that does most of it. Then you’ve got to practise with the bubbles sometimes. I guess I got better every year I did it.”

Anyone thinking of getting into the beer mile should “get some buddies to do it, don’t take it too seriously, do it for fun,” he said.

— with files by Trevor Wilhelm

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