**** BEER MILE 2026 **** important information
A reminder for this Thursday July 30. THE RACE OF THE YEAR!
The 10th Annual Dirtbag Runners Bow Valley Beer Mile will once again be taking place at Tom/Heather's. I cannot thank Tom and Heather enough for their generosity, fun loving nature, and all around stoke for this event!
This will be Tom's 10th consecutive running - not many folks have done that - what a legend!! Thank you so much guys!
A reminder that if you are planning on racing that prior attendance at either Dirtbags or Trail Culture this year is mandatory! No ringers please!
Spectators are welcome! Come and heckle - it’s quite the spectacle (though racing is way more fun) and we have a great after party!
We have lots of free refreshments courtesy of local breweries, but bring your own alcohol for racing! Thanks so much to all the local breweries who donate!
For the racers we have great prizing once again. Thank you to our sponsors! We have race entries, shoes, running apparel, plus more great prizes to be revealed race day!
Prizes will be awarded to winners in each category (M/F wine mile, M/F Beer mile PLUS NA beer mile if we have enough entries!
And of course we'll have the Drunken Dash and prizes for best costume! Fancy dress is highly recommended and really adds to the fun atmosphere!
Things will get going around 6pm with rules, warm up, course familiarization and checking for illegal beers/wines. Please check the prior post for Beer mile official rules!
It is highly recommended to arrive on foot or bike as parking may be an issue at Rundleview.
Tom & Heather's address by the way - 1008 Rundleview Drive
The forecast looks hot and sunny currently! The question is whether we will we see new tech this year - ice bandannas, menthol cooling systems, Taurine, Bicarb, Nomio, Radical airflow tech shirts....? Hopefully we've all done our sauna training as temperature management may be crucial for a win!
Now for a few fun stats:
Field size comparison…
2025: 59 (32 beer, 17 wine, 10 n/a)
2024: 50 (31 beer, 19 wine, 0 n/a)
2023: 55 (37 beer, 15 wine, 3 n/a)
2022: 122 (98 beer, 21 wine, 3 n/a) - out of control....
2021: 26 (13 beer, 13 wine)
2020: 42 (28 beer, 14 wine)
A few other data points of interest (since 2020 since we didn’t keep good records before that):
Fastest Beer Mile (men):
1st: 7:00 Sam Hendry 2022
2nd: 7:09 Craig Logan 2021
3rd: 7:10 Ben Lindemulder 2021
Fastest Beer Mile (women):
1st: 7:23 Alex Stukator 2025
2nd: 8:00 Alex Stukator 2024
3rd: 8:02 Alex Stukator 2023
4th: 9:09 Liza Pye 2021
Fastest Wine Mile (women):
1st: 6:54 Liz Dandridge-Evancio 2021
2nd: 7:10 Shayna Quibell 2021
3rd: 7:20 Liz Dandridge-Evancio 2022
Fastest Wine Mile (men):
1st: 6:16 Andrei Dandrige-Evancio 2025
2nd: 6:31 Jon Billiau 2025
3rd: 6:46 Terence Goldberg 2025
Big news for this year is that some new champions will be crowned! Andy Reed will return as defending Men's Beer Mile Champ, but has some big miles in his legs and isn't in top mile shape. Who will take home the Golden Speedcross? The Women's Beer Mile champ (and overall champ last year) will not be racing so the Golden On is up for grabs (anyone have it btw??).
Both the current Men's and Women's Wine mile champs (the Dandridge-Evancios) are apparently incapacitated, either by pregnancy or injury (I don't believe these are connected, but you never know) so the Golden Skirt and Jacket are anyones!
....AND previous wine mile podium speedsters are away or injured so the wine mile podium is really wide open, but word has it that Doug Evans is looking fast. We are all looking forward to his Strava warm up post. That man has things dialled in.
So a long post! Taper well & get those costumes sorted. Get in your last minute strides, and remember that your last chance to gain entry to the most prestigious race on the Alberta running calendar is tomorrow - Tuesday - with attendance at Trail Culture!
See you all at 6PM Thursday! Hope you took Friday off work....