Jake Willard
- Creator of Root Beer Mile
- 3rd place finisher
I was first inspired to do the root beer mile by my good friend Carter Christman. He was the meet director for the Southern California Mountain Dew Mile and made it a top notch event. Then, when I became the MileSplit intern and Gordon Mack from Flotrack said us interns would have to battle it out for a run junkie hat, I knew what we had to do. Thus, the Root Beer Mile was born.
The weeks of anticipation were spent diligently preparing my mind, body, and stomach for the task at hand. I spent hours thinking out race scenarios and getting psyched up to drink a ton of root beer. I spent several nights after work running root beer 400's with fellow interns Temi Baj and Trevor Heinz, all of which I got destroyed in. But I did not let that shake my focus. But most importantly, I spent even more hours planning out my kit for the race. I had to go with the classic Ron Burgundy. Being from California, I was not and still am not used to the heat and humidity that Austin Texas is accustomed to. And drinking root beer on top of running the mile was not going to be good. It was so hot outside, and root beer was a bad choice. But just like Ron, I knew I was kind of a big deal. I was confident I had the best kit, but also that I had a chance to win.
Going into the race, I knew I didn't have the track speed, but I was confident in my drinking. But the second the race started I knew I had lost my chance. I was the second person in the race to finish chugging the first root beer. However, going through the first lap, I was unable to get my burbs out, a key factor in running any drinking race. I got passed by several competitors and felt a little disheartened, but I just kept pushing, thinking I could break them in the long run. The second root beer was harder than the first, but I got it down and kept going. Coming down the home straight away on that second lap, I felt this weird phenomenon. My inability to burb and the two root beers in my stomach combined with the shaking motion of the running caused the root beer to foam up in my stomach. So much so that it foamed up my stomach and out my mouth. I was disappointed that I would have to run the penalty lap and lose my chance at winning. However, I quickly changed my goal to getting third. The race did not get any easier from there. The root beer kept foaming out of my mouth every 200 meters until the half way through the last lap where I legitimately puked for the first time. That was the biggest relief in the world. After that I was able to breathe a little easier. I mustered up all the power I had left and unleashed it into my kick down the home stretch. I finished strong and managed to finish third, beating fellow intern Temi by more than 200 meters.
The root beer mile was an amazing event, but one of the hardest races I have ever run in my life. It was a very paradoxical event. It was terrible but also fun! I was glad that all us interns could come together and run this event together. Working at FloSports is an awesome experience because everyone in the office is one big family. It truly is an amazing company.
Trevor Heinz
- Root Beer Mile Champion
- Meet record Holder
Yesterday was a turning point in my root-beer running career. The race started off fast, with Karsten downing his root beer in 12 seconds I was thrown off by the pace he set out at. I finished my root beer in 19 seconds and tried to close the gap between me and him as soon as possible. Luckily, my fan base was the largest so they cheered me on. I passed Temi and then Jake on the back stretch and closed the gap on Karsten as well as I could; after getting through that first lap, I mentally prepared myself for three more laps. On the second root beer, Karsten had a slight lead on me and started his lap right in front of me, I picked up my pace and caught him at the 200 meter mark. The third root beer was the toughest physically and mentally. I forced the soda down, almost throwing up but keeping my composure, I started my third lap. This is when I opened the gap up between Karsten and I because I needed a good amount of time to drink my root beer. I got to the bell lap with a 30 meter gap between me and Karsten. I persevered through my last can and threw it up in the air in triumph as I started my last lap. By 200 meters left my stomach was turning inside out, but I wouldn't let myself puke until after I finished. I crossed the line in 6:44 seconds which is a new PR for me and an A standard. Karsten was right behind me finishing strong. Everyone who competed has such strong will power because four root beers is a lot of sugar I was thankful to race and come away with the win and to have my friends and family come out to support me. I am also glad to have been a part of the root beer mile, it was a lot of fun to be a part of but I'm so excited to never drink a soda ever again!
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Temi Bajulaiye
- 5th in the Root Beer Mile
- Nigerian Root Beer Mile Record Holder
The build up
When it comes to racing, there are three different stages: The build-up, the race, and the aftermath. The buildup for the Root Beer mile was without a doubt a key factor in the enjoyment. A month ago when Jake Willard first suggested the idea of the Root Beer mile, I thought it was nothing but another idea. About a week went by and whispers of “The Intern Root Beer Mile,” began to flow throughout the office. Even up to this point, it seemed like just another idea. The minute that this idea turned into an actual plan was when someone mentioned that we could use the Root Beer Mile to kick off the MileSplit Convention- This was the beginning of the hype.
Running miles was never my forte; luckily, drinking soda was arguably my greatest pastime. I had never had Root Beer; so, I just assumed it would be like drinking any other soda. I had my first taste of Root Beer when Jake W. convinced me to do a “Root Beer workout.” My chug time was horrible, but I was able to comfortable run a 59 second 400m after it (I did this twice). This workout gave me confidence, and with that, I decided to just rest and relax the next 2 weeks until the root beer mile ( Basically, all I did was lift and participate in one soccer game).
The morning of the Root Beer mile was pretty relaxing. We had some on-going projects at work that we had to finish up which helped take my mind of the race. The minute work ended, you could hear people saying “I think (insert name here) is going to take the win,” and “I think (insert name here) is going to throw up first.”
The Race
The race was a beast of its own. I went in thinking I was going to drink 4 Root Beers and run 4 laps. The race went off and the sodas were opened. At this point, I knew I was in trouble. My chugging was off pace and I was already behind. Two laps later, I had made up no ground and the Sodas carbonation (or H2CO3 for you science fans) was getting to me. I tried to hold it back but I couldn’t. The Root Beer erupted out. The rest of the race was simply me trying to hold back the Root Beer as I struggled to finish the laps. On top of this, since I threw-up I had to do a penalty lap (so I ended up doing 5 laps instead of 4).
The Aftermath
All in all, it was a great experience. I might not have won, but I set a new Root Beer Mile PR and a possible Root Beer Mile Nigerian Record (Not exactly sure who to talk to about this but its legit). Trevor Heinz took the win with a new PR and a meet record. I’m happy to have been part of such an exciting race and such a fun event. Everyone ran their hearts out and that’s all you can ask for.
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