Jakob Ingebrigtsen runs five-minute beer mile at bachelor party

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen has had a season to remember on the track. The 23-year-old has set world records over 2,000m and two miles, but one record he recently attempted and missed was the beer mile world record.

On Monday evening in his hometown of Sandes, Norway, Ingebrigtsen chose to partake in a beer mile as part of his bachelor party. Ingebrigtsen posted a respectable beer mile time of five minutes and 22 seconds, but it was well short of the 4:28 world record held by Canada’s Corey Bellemore.

Although Ingebrigtsen ran the beer mile coming off potential jet lag and two Diamond League titles on the weekend in Eugene, Ore., which included the third-fastest mile time in history—3:43.73, he fell short of breaking the five-minute beer-mile barrier.

Bellemore called out Ingebrigtsen on his Instagram story, challenging him to a head-to-head matchup in the discipline. “I am always game,” posted Bellemore.

According to his brother, Kristoffer’s Strava page, Jakob chose to run the beer mile with his friends and brothers as part of his bachelor party. Ingebrigtsen is planning to marry his longtime partner Elisabeth Asserson later this year in Norway.

The rules of the beer mile are that runners have to complete four laps around a 400m track while consuming a beer before each lap. The beers must have a minimum volume of 340 mL and an alcohol by volume (ABV) content of five per cent or higher. We cannot confirm if Ingebrigtsen abided by the recognized rules of beermile.com and may need to see the footage to ratify his result.

Ingebrigtsen had a nearly perfect 2023 season, setting multiple world and European records in middle distances. He also defended his 5,000m world title at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest but lost his coveted jewel, the men’s 1,500m, for the second consecutive year, placing second to Great Britain’s Josh Kerr.