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The mile must be completed in four laps around a track. The beers must be consumed before each lap, it must be drunk from a can and it must contain at least 5% alcohol.

While the sport demands top tier running ability, the inherent challenge of the Beer Mile is coping with the nauseating effects of quickly swallowing 1.42 liters of carbonated, alcoholic beverage.

“Probably our ability to drink quickly and hold it in without really any ill effects while running fast is probably our greater talent, sadly,” said Mr. Finlayson, a two time Canadian marathon champion, of his fellow Beer Mile world champions.

“The most important aspect of the beer mile is the drinking,” Australian Josh Harris, the current world record holder at 5:04.9, said in a recent interview with the publication SPIKES.

“There is an art to being able to drink the last three beers without needing to breathe, and also the ability to hold them down without the urge to vomit.”

Tellingly, the first words uttered by Mr. Nielsen upon completing his Beer Mile were “it’s really painful. Holy s—.”

The feat, performed Sunday, was captured in a nine-minute YouTube video recorded by Mr. Nielsen’s wife.

“I’ve been training hard [for] nothing but this day for the last year,” he says in a pre-amble. “You’re witnessing history.”

The son of a Canadian mother, Mr. Nielsen is a San Francisco-area tech executive, was a competitive runner in college and twice became the the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s 5k National Champion.