Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Citius, Altius, Drunkius

James Nielsen won the 2007 Eugene (OR) Marathon and ran in the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials. He's a two-time NCAA champion at 5,000 meters. But those achievements pale in comparison to what he accomplished on April 27.

Nielsen, like Roger Bannister before him, shattered a barrier heretofore thought beyond man's physical capabilities. He overcame pain, a disbelieving public, and carbonation.

James Nielsen ran the first sub-5:00 Beer Mile.

An officially-sanctioned Beer Mile requires a runner to drink a full 12-ounce can of beer, run 400 meters, drink another full 12-ounce can of beer, run another 400 meters, and so on, until the mile is complete. Nielsen, motivated by U.S. Olympian Nick Symmonds' public interest in trying to be the first to break the 5:00 barrier, completed his mile in 4:57.

It's courage like Nielsen's that lift us all, that inspires us to follow our better angels, to continue to train so that, like him, we might conquer our own Beer Miles. Or, whatever the distance from our couches to our refrigerators may be.




53 comments:

  1. We have a beer mile event down here at the beach next month. or maybe july, I forget. Come on down.

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  2. So Bradley Beal is pretty good, huh?

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  3. This should be an event at OBFT. What do you think the over/under would be for fastest time there?

    6.9 minutes?

    And not to be a hater but he didn't dump the first beer on his head.

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  4. i'd be thrilled to run a sub-8:00 beer mile.

    also, i know it's a topic of conversation across the interwebs, but roy hibbert, man. 0 and 0 with 5 fouls in 17 minutes. my honest opinion at this point is that he's suffering from some sort of anxiety disorder or other mental illness, which isn't in the least bit funny, but would explain a lot.

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  5. squeak, after the last (only) run from tortuga's back to the house, i've retired from exertion at obft.

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  6. I can't fathom why drinking and running would be something anyone would care to combine. Why don't you just run a mile and then fish?

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  7. things i learned spending the better part of two days in the hospital with my kidlet: mike judge appears in each of the movies in the 'spy kids' trilogy.

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  8. I am a big fan of drinking after running, when I'm dehydrated and can get loaded easily. Not a big fan of the mornings after those days, when dehydration, cramping and soreness leave me a hobbling, neon-yellow urinator all morning.

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  9. if you don't like the sound of running and drinking, mayhugh, you'll hate this:

    http://www.krispykremechallenge.com/

    run 2.5 miles, eat 12 krispy kreme donuts, run back 2.5 miles to where you started. puke. a lot.

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  10. That's cray cray.
    Drinking after running, especially if early in the a.m., is grand.
    I've got a few neighbors that, on their wkd runs, puff up beforehand. How they do that I don't know.

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  11. And so it begins (and possibly ends), as predicted...

    The crack-smoking Canadian never made it to rehab in Chicago and his whereabouts are still unknown, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported on Tuesday.

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  12. i assume he's hiking the appalachian trail

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  13. he's out finding the real killers

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  14. An old roommate of mine (who semi crashed TJ's wedding) used to always get high before going on runs. I never understood the appeal of that but he loved it.

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  15. Is that Robbie Ford being referenced in that snippet?

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  16. Fingercuffs success! And TR brilliantly described my current state of being with the "dehydration, cramping and soreness leave me a hobbling" comment.

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  17. I'm a big fan of the beer stop around the last mile of any road race. Nothing like liquid carbs to push you that last mile.

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  18. mark, z - you guys heard atmosphere's new record? it's got a cool, mellow vibe. and namechecks kirby puckett.

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  19. troy tulowitzki is batting .596 with a 1.773 ops in 14 home games this season. those are softball numbers.

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  20. I'm not sure my wife would be quite as supportive of the beer mile, though a buddy of mine is organizing one here soon. I have to question their font choice for the closing documents. Papyrus is for making bad logos, not to document athletic and alcoholic feats.

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  21. These optical illusions in sand on the beach are pretty awesome.

    http://flavorwire.com/455735/amazing-large-scale-3d-optical-illusions-drawn-on-the-sand-of-a-beautiful-beach/view-all

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  22. As if I didn't love Kevin Durant enough. That acceptance speech. Wow.

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  23. 1. Watch KD's acceptance speech. Love, love, love this guy

    2. Someone needs to create a Venn diagram of gaga fans & Wizards fans. Is that three people? 100 people? zero people? the gaga fans are going nuts about changing the concert date. what they don't realize is that there's a clause in every event contract during April, May & June that they can get bumped for an NBA or NFL playoff game.

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  24. I haven't heard Southsiders yet, Rob. It just dropped today. Will be downloading tonight.

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  25. and by "NFL" I meant "NHL"
    I can't see my keyboard with the tears in my eyes from KD's speech

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  26. seriously y'all, watch the KD speech

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  27. I did. Honest emotion and humble gratitude emanating from famous people shouldn't be that remarkable, but it is. And it was.

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  28. Shlara, pls tweet that contract nugget. I want to tweak some Gaga fans via retweet.

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  29. hospital? everything ok?

    i was a participant in the obft beer run, and i am certain that drinking and driving is safer than drinking and running, especially running in wet sand. i tried to scare everyone off by sprinting like a madman at the start, but that tactic didn't work, and then the beer did it's lethargic magic.

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  30. are you drunk at the end of a beer mile, or just sick?

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  31. Poor Roy...I knew it was about a girl. From the INternational Biz Times, souring Baller Alert:

    http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/551377/20140507/pacers-nba-news.htm#.U2mA7ChqL-B

    Baller Alert reported on Monday that a follower told them about an alleged cheating going on between All-Star wingman Paul George and center Roy Hibbert. The report claimed that George was caught sleeping with Hibbert's wife or fiancée.

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  32. at an event for an incredible organization where dan snyder is being honored. feel so confused.

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  33. joe gibbs' grandkids call him 'coach'. phenomenal.

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  34. Hibbert needs to suck it up. British soccer players have been sticking it in their teammates' wives for a few decades now.

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  35. That makes for a big chunnel.

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  36. Says the man in Whale's Vagina.

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  37. just watched the durant speech. that dude is the best. i was already pulling for the thunder; this just reinforces it for me.

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  38. sure wish I had a picture with that guy...

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  39. Why would Hibbert get married in the first place? Idiot.

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  40. Oh Teej...I am still mad about screwing that up.

    It's a wonder I'm passing my video journalism class with my poor photography skills.

    How about KD's comment that his goal in life was to be a rec league coach?? Seriously, I heart him.

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  41. Tommy Lasorda on V Stiviano: "I don't wish that girl any bad luck, but I hope she gets hit with a car."

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  42. Tosh on V. Stiviano: she was banging an unapologetic racist for FOUR YEARS!!!

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  43. Don't know if any of you saw the story about James Blake's home outside Tampa burning down last night but its gotten significantly worse this morning. 4 victims inside with (reported) gunshot wounds to the head and a fire accelerant used. Blake wasn't in Tampa at the time.

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  44. My over/under date on VStiv getting signed to a Reality Show is 5/20

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  45. even more bizarre, mark, there are reports that the victims had fireworks strapped to their heads. what in the everloving fuck?

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  46. The blake story will be an interesting scoop. Will he or won't he be implicated? I'm guessing no.

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  47. Every fantasy league should adopt this rule:

    http://thebiglead.com/2014/05/07/jon-hamm-recalls-getting-booted-from-bill-simmons-fantasy-football-league/#sthash.TryNLBth.uxfs

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  48. It's really weird to have all this national media focused on the Wizards, and saying good things. Good, but very weird.

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  49. Best review of the new Old 97's record. This kid is always good.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwqG_hho1kE&feature=em-subs_digest

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  50. if you get a chance, check out ?uestlove's essays (up to 3 in a 6 part weekly series) on hip hop and culture. In part 2 he does a great job gently eviscerating what I call the "hair band" era of hip hop: when everything seemed like a laundry-list of hyper-luxury brand names mixed in with dubious braggadocio about one's fame and wealth. He contrasts those displays of grandeur with the more meaningful lyrics of the early hip hop pioneers like Run-DMC.

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  51. here's your linkage to the aforementioned article

    http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/questlove-on-how-hip-hop-failed-black-america.html

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  52. Liverpool fans are getting pretty excited about Man City still being tied with Aston Villa after 54 minutes of play.

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