Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game.
Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak.
Wayne Gretzky’s 2,857 career goals.
Brett Favre’s 321 consecutive games started at quarterback.
Byron Nelson’s 11 PGA tour wins in a row.
James Nielsen’s beer mile time of 4:57.
These are the astonishing individual sports records that most people believe will never be broken. Well, shit just got broke.
Many have attempted the rigorous beer mile and many have failed, including Lance Armstrong and Katie Nolan. There is no shame in not finishing this grueling undertaking because it is much, much harder than one would imagine.
The rigid rules for running the beer mile state that a runner must drink a beer before every lap on a 400-meter track for a mile. The beer must be a minimum of 5 percent alcohol by volume and in an unaltered 12 ounce can or bottle. Each beer can must not be opened until the competitor enters the transition zone on each lap. Competitors who vomit before they finish the race must complete one penalty lap at the end of the race.
So just to complete this arduous test of endurance, dedication and drinking is feat unto itself. To be a world record holder is unimaginable, unless you’re Josh Harris. This 25-year-old inebriathlete from Australia not only broke the 5-minute beer mile, but posted a time of 4:56.2, all while drinking four bottles of Cooper’s 62 Pilsner beers, which are 5.0 percent ABV. And that sports fans, is your beer mile new world record. The previous world record was held by James “The Beast” Nielsen with a time of 4:57, which the 35-year-old set in May of last year. However, the unbelievable time must still be accepted by the race’s official governing body, BeerMile.com.
Harris said that he plans to represent his country at the Beer Mile World Classic event in San Francisco later this month. Harris is actually very familiar with international competition. Previously, he represented Australia at the World University Games, where he ran a half-marathon personal best of 69:54.
Harris spoke to SI.com about his exhausting training for his record breaking run:
“It’s something I’ve been working on for a few weeks now. Training has included 3 shorter interval sessions (200-400m) with beer recovery in the final set. I’ve also been drinking one beer per night at top speed and on a Sunday after my long run eating as much food as I can with a beer to finish once I’m close to puking.”
Records were meant to be broken.