Cheers! Fleet Feet Racing?s Chris Robertson Top American at 2016 Beer Mile Championships

If you caught it on the livestream on the FloTrack website on Saturday, you would have seen Fleet Feet-Nike Racing team member Chris Robertson finish third in a world championship.

The 2016 FloTrack Beer Mile World Championship, that is.

The field before the start of the 2016 FloTrack Beer Mile World Championships in Austin, Texas this past Saturday. Fleet Feet-Nike Racing's Chris Robertson is in the red singlet. Notice the runers have taped their fingers or are wearing gloves to help with removing the caps from the beer bottles.

The Beer Mile, where runners run a mile while drinking four beers – one at the start of each lap – has become one of the new crazes on the running scene to the point of establishing a world championship in 2014 and has spawned numerous imitators using other alcoholic beverages. (There was a ‘malort mile’ in Chicago this past fall.)

And they're off on the first beer and the first lap!

Fleet Feet-Nike Racing team racing member Chris Robertson -- his beer of choice for the championship race was Bud Light Platinum -- finished third in the world championship final held down in Austin, Texas, and was the first American with a time of 5:03, finishing one second ahead of Phil Parrot-Migas. Corey Bellemore of Canada, the current world record holder in the Beer Mile at 4:34.3, took the top honors in 4:49, beating defending Beer Mile champion Lewis Kent by 10 seconds.

Chris Robertson of Fleet Feet-Nike Racing was 7th at the end of the first lap but would finish 3rd and be the top American finishers in the 2016 FloTrack Beer Mile World Championship in Austin, Texas.

The Beer Mile has proven to be such a cultural phenomenon in the running community that many of the top runners are sponsored - champion Bellemore is sponsored by Adidas - while Brooks made a special racing flat for their top sponsored 'beer miler' Lewis Kent just for the event.

Brooks described the shoe this way with the appropriate hyperbole. “At 6.4 oz. and with Forefoot Propulsion Pods, the shoe is lightweight and peppy, ready to return energy and move quickly. The outsole compound is also formulated for premium wet-dry traction and skid resistance, perfect for the beer transition zone where spilled beverages can create hazards. The perforated stretch-woven upper not only provides a sock-like fit but also vents and drains in the event of beer spillage.”

Sorry folks, the shoe is not available at retail.