Apparently 'beer miles' are a thing. They involve a surprisingly detailed set of rules, the most important of which is that a can of beer must be downed before each of the four laps of the track. You're also not allowed to vomit during the course of your attempt.
The holy grail of beer milers had been a sub five-minute effort. That was until guy called James Nielsen queasily trundled his way to rat-arsed Roger Bannister status with his time of 4:57. This was completed after a year's worth of training and scientific research. He seems like a decent athlete to begin with and the beer mile movement seems to be bigger than one might think, so there's no reason to doubt his claims.
Nielsen conceded that unlike Bannister's record, which was thought to have achieved the physically impossible, the idea of running a mile in less than five minutes while half-cut has never been thought to be undoable - it's just bloody difficult. Olympian Nick Symmonds could only manage a 5:31 not so long ago. Nielsen's time is acknowledged on Beer Mile's hilariously meticulous website, but it lacks the official asterisk, probably because the time was recorded on his wife's phone.
It's impressive stuff in its own way, but I'm not sure if Nielsen's lung- and liver-bursting exploits are as mind-blowing as he thinks - I've been known to run twice that distance with a feed of Guinness inside me after missing the last bus home.
[FTW]
