Meet the five-time beer-mile world champion: ‘I knew I could chug from a young age’

Corey Bellemore doesn’t enjoy the same name recognition as Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt. He hasn’t amassed the earnings or brand endorsements of LeBron James or Lionel Messi.

Yet over the past five years, this unassuming 30-year-old Canadian has put together an extraordinary level of dominance that may be unprecedented in world sport, his achievements surpassing anything that his better known peers have achieved.

Bellemore’s sport of choice is the beer mile, which involves downing four beers while running a mile really fast. He has won the Beer Mile World Classic, an international event which brings together the best of the best at drinking beer while also running a mile, for the past five years in a row, a staggering success in a hotly contested event.

The rules of the beer mile are simple. Athletes must drink a beer, then run a lap of a 400m track. The competitors then drink another beer, and so on, until a mile is completed. The beer must be at least 355ml (12oz) in volume and no less than 5% ABV, with contestants choosing their own beer and whether to use cans or bottles. Vomiting is punished by running an extra lap.

It’s a sport that is “equal parts gastric challenge and athletic endeavor”, Beermile.com says, and Bellemore is the best of the best.

I think a lot of people think maybe I’m booze bag, maybe a bad influence because I’m doing these races

Corey Bellemore

“From a young age – and this is not beer related – if I had to consume a bunch of liquid after running practice, I could finish the entire water bottle in a very short time. Electrolyte mix, Gatorade, whatever it was, I could down it as quick as I needed to get it in,” Bellemore said.

“So I knew I could chug from a young age.”

And chug he has, at Beer Mile events around the world, sending records toppling as he goes.

At the Beer Mile World Classic in Portugal, in late July, Bellemore broke his own world record for the beer mile, setting a time of four minutes 27.1 seconds. For reference, the fastest ever mile time is 3:43.13, set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1999. El Guerrouj did not drink four beers during his run.

Despite his success, Bellemore was not always destined to be the titan of the beer mile. He was a competitive runner at university, specializing in the 800m and 1500m, and has represented Canada in international athletics events, but only discovered the beer mile when he was 21 years old. It’s a remarkable feat in an era when many sportspeople begin training for their sports as children.

“I didn’t go searching for it. It kind of found me,” Bellemore said.

He tried the beer mile in 2016 just for a bit of fun, with his twin brother monitoring his times and beer consumption and a friend filming the endeavor. In Bellemore’s first attempt he beat the world record – albeit unofficially – and after the footage was uploaded to YouTube, Bellemore’s journey began.

“I woke up the next morning to a message from an account called Beer Mile World Classic,” Bellemore said. “They just happened to be hosting a competition in London, England, that weekend. They said: ‘We’ll pay for your flight. We’ll pay for your trip. Do you think you can get on a flight tonight and come here for this weekend?’”

He could. Jet-lagged and with only one beer mile experience behind him, Bellemore won the Beer Mile World Classic, beating England’s Dale King Clutterbuck by 15 seconds.

Bellemore did not compete in the 2017 race, but he returned in 2018, when he lost to Clutterbuck in heartbreaking fashion, as Bellemore was judged not to have drunk all of his beer. He won again in 2019 before missing the race in 2020, but has won every year since then – five in a row. Undisputedly the world’s best at running a mile while drinking beer, Bellemore holds the overall world record as well as the record for using canned beer and also has the best time in the non-alcoholic beer mile.

The world classic in 2023 provided exceptional sporting drama, when Bellemore’s shoe came off in the first few yards of the race. With fans on the edge of their seats, Bellemore stormed into the lead anyway, wearing just one shoe as he rocketed around the track to claim another title.

Despite his unparalleled success, Bellemore has eschewed the limelight. He doesn’t want to be known as just a beer drinker: he focuses his training almost exclusively on the running aspect of the beer mile and remains a talented athlete – later this year he will begin competing professionally in the triathlon.

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“It took me a long time to kind of acknowledge and I sort of just own that I do these things,” he said.

“I think a lot of people get a misrepresentation of who I am, of what I’m about, what I do. I think a lot of people think maybe I’m a booze bag, maybe a bad influence because I’m doing these races.

“Obviously, it’s probably not the best for your body if you’re doing these continuously. But I only do these once or twice a year, and with the opportunities it brings, it’s a no-brainer for me. I’ve met some phenomenal people and been to some amazing places. That’s why I do it.”