Will Beer Mile Ever Land on Online Bookmakers’ Odds?

It is estimated that around 48 million people in the USA partake in running or jogging as a hobby. It’s one of the simplest ways to keep fit, with no specialist equipment needed. Simply pull on a good pair of sneakers, fire up some music and then hit the road or the track.

Races range from themed 5k fun to the seriousness of full marathons, along with gruelling trail runs and ultra-marathons. The variety has helped the sport expand and capture new participants, but one of the more unique offerings is the Beer Mile, a social event that mixes alcohol and athleticism.

A Beer Mile event is not something that can be found covered by the legal bookmakers in any country, whether in the USA, Spain, the United Kingdom or other countries. Take some of the best UK sportsbooks, like those rated by Legalbet, that carefully analyse and compare operators and their betting lines. These bookmakers cover loads of sports, from football to athletics. But could betting sites be tempted to list odds for the Beer Mile in the future?

The Origins of the Beer Mile

The Beer Mile began in 1989 at Burlington Central High School in Ontario when some high school runners wanted to celebrate the end of their summer by having a little fun. The seven runners took some beer to their running track and set up a unique challenge for themselves.

The goal was to drink a beer before the start of the four-lap race and then again at the start of each subsequent lap, to achieve quite the buzz. Naturally, this spread like wildfire as the runners told others about it afterwards, so much so that it became a tradition at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

The Growth of the Beer Mile

The first ever Beer Mile World Championship was held in Austin, Texas in 2014 and there is even a current world record holder, which is Canada’s Corey Bellemore with a time of 4:28.1 that was set in 2021. The Beer Mile Classic is now one of the biggest events in the world, held in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, which is the hometown of the aforementioned Bellemore.

Beer-milers are not in the fringe of running any more as there are many events held around the world, from Canada and the USA, to the UK, Germany, Australia and beyond. The rules for a Beer Run are fairly simple, as it still involves athletes trying to get the fastest time possible, just like a regular race.

Only in a Beer Mile does an alcoholic beverage have to be sunk in its entirety before each lap. The beer has to be at least 5% alcohol by volume and come in a standard can or bottle of 12 ounces (355 ml).

Participants’ cans cannot be tampered with and each drink has to be consumed within a transition zone before starting the next lap. Oh, and if there is vomiting, that earns a penalty lap as punishment.

Betting on the Beer Mile

You won’t find betting markets on the Beer Mile, at least not just yet. But why is that, and will the situation ever change? The first problem with bookmakers trying to set lines on a Beer Mile is that there are so many of them hosted each year, and it’s not as if the sport is regulated under a governing body as a professional sport.

There is little chance that traders are going to know enough about the entrants to form any kind of picture for setting accurate betting lines on a Beer Run. For context, there are hundreds of marathons around the world every year, but betting markets for only a small handful like London and Boston ever see the light of day.

Bookmakers don’t like taking unnecessary risks, and Beer Miles are just highly unpredictable. But if there were ever betting options for a Beer Mile, though, it would probably only come if an official World Championship was set up.

But even then, the public interest in it, compared to something like an NHL or NFL match would be so miniscule, that it’s hard to imagine that a bookmaker would waste time and resources in souring odds for the race.

What Beer Mile Betting Could There Be?

Nonetheless, while it’s extremely unlikely to ever happen, it’s fun to think about what betting markets there could be for a Beer Mile. The outright winner of a race is an obvious option, and that could happen for the men’s and women’s events.

Betting options for a top-three finish could be a possibility, as well as a ‘To Not’ Finish prop bet. It would also be hilarious to see a ‘To Vomit’ betting market available for an athlete posted within a sportsbook, but it’s not ever likely to emerge.

Image Credit: DALL-E