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Bellemore’s beer mile is also faster than the women’s mile record that stood for much of the 20th century. Only in 1973 did Italian sprinter Paola Pigni bring the women’s world record down to 4:29.5. It now stands at 4:12.56., a record set by Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova.

A proper beer mile consists of four quarter mile laps of a track, each of them preceded by the downing of a beer. The clock is running throughout, so the able beer miler is judged partly on the quickness of their drinking.

They must also avoid vomiting, which necessitates a penalty lap.

Photo by Ekaterina Moysov/Courtesy of Corey Bellemore

While beer miling may have once been the domain of potbellied weekenders, it has now been taken over by legitimate runners eager to master the gastrointestinal challenges of mixing vigorous exercise with carbonated alcohol.

Bellemore, for one, can normally be seen running for Canada at alcohol-free events such as the recent Francophone Games in Cote d’Ivoire. His personal record for a beerless mile is 4.01, although as he told the National Post “we don’t do many miles in Canada.”

His new beer mile record was set Saturday night at San Francisco’s Kezar Stadium during halftime at a San Francisco Deltas soccer game.

Photo by Ekaterina Moysov/Courtesy of Corey Bellemore

A Facebook video of the run records Bellemore’s clear dominance of the other competitors. As other runners visibly struggled to choke down their brews, the Canadian smoothly chugged his four bottles of Flying Monkeys amber ale without a twinge of discomfort.

Bellemore, who appears to be a man of few words, greeted the victory by addressing the cheering San Francisco crowd with a soft-spoken “thanks a lot to everyone.”