Beer mile champ getting paid big bucks to drink and run

Remember when mom told you to do more with your university years than run around and drink beer?

Turns out she might have cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

That's what London, Ont.'s Lewis Kent will reportedly make as the world record-holder in the "beer mile."

Reports suggest the 22-year-old Western University student has signed a two-year deal that will pay him in excess of $100,000, dependent on the National Beer Mile circuit seeing significant growth. (Beer guts presumably don't count.)

Kent will be paid a base salary, said his agent Kris Mychasiw, as an ambassador for the series.

Even more ammo for mom? It's the second endorsement deal Kent has done. Last year he signed a similar-type contract with Brooks athletic equipment.

So now that you're intrigued enough to get off your couch and start collecting your empties to cash in for running shoes, maybe you're wondering what a beer mile is?

It's pretty simple: drink a can of beer, run a lap on a standard 400-metre track, then repeat that three more times. That's four beers, four laps. Kent's world record is four minutes, 51.9 seconds, which isn't bad even if he didn't also drink four beers in the process. 

• The Complete Standard Beer Mile Ruleset​​