The Beer Half Marathon

Let's start with a bit of background. Gregory B watched a video of in which they thought it was a great idea to run a Marathon around Sydney, Australia while stopping for 10 beers along the way (a pint every 4 km). Absolute nutters.

Back to the story at hand, Gregory (also a nutter) designed a route for a Beer Half Marathon. 13.1 miles and 7 pubs, starting in Newcastle and finishing in South Shields. A full marathon is a lot for some people, so that's how the beer half was born.

The Route and Pubs. We would start off at the Wylam Brewery followed by Crown Posada, Cricketers Arms, The Clock, Kennedy's Bar, The Steamboat and finishing in The New Crown.

We met at 1pm on Saturday 12th October outside Wylam Brewery in Exhibition Park, Newcastle. There were three other headcases joining Gregory B on his Beer Half; Bethany C, Ryan M and Paul W. Starting as we meant to go on, we commenced sinking delicious creamy pints. Lots of positive vibes ahead of the event…Now the running part.

There was a short run through the centre of Newcastle which was very busy with lots going on; people dancing and people making sculptures out of ice. We headed down to the quayside to the one of the oldest pubs in Newcastle, The Crown Posada, for drink number two. In the pub Ryan announced he was hungry, so he went to Greggs for a sausage roll as he gets “Special benefits” (friends and family discount).

Look how happy he is.

The next part was the longest stretch of the route, from the Crown Posada to The Cricketers Arms. The rain had already started, so Ryan shot into Greggs for his race nutrition.

During this next stretch, there was heavy rain for the whole 3 miles+ but we carried on powering through the downpour to the Cricketers Arms. There was a strong sense of camaraderie all the way through despite the weather. Ryan was crowned with a temporary accolade of being the Waterboy. We arrived at The Cricketers Arms drenched but ready for delicious pint three.

Next stretch was The Cricketer Arms to The Clock, which is one of Bethany’s regular haunts. Apparently, she is a karaoke demon and can rock out to a good Limp Bizkit song or two. Good news, as we left the pub the rain had stopped. The next part was a nice short stretch past Hebburn football ground but the lucky or unlucky Waterboy got some bird poop on his leg. Luckily Gregory had something to clean it off with as he always prepared like a scout.

Once the clean-up duty had been completed, we continued on with the weather starting to turn to the warmer side. We had it all in this run. We arrived at The Clock for pint four and the barmaid was friendly and very intrigued by our crazy challenge.

Fuelled up and ready to go, the next stop was Kennedy's Bar. Another long stretch of around 3 miles. We were nearing the 8 mile point with around 5 miles and three pubs left to go. We met up with Gary D outside the Port of Tyne and Ian S outside of Kennedy’s Bar. There was uncertainty whether it would be open as the area is prone to flooding. Thankfully the doors were open and we could slurp pint number five. The people inside were so nice and amazed at what crazy thing we were doing.

We headed off from Kennedy’s to our next pub, The Steamboat. A short but naughty stretch along Commercial Road. This was the 10 mile point so we were in the back end of this run. We arrived at The Steamboat for the penultimate libation.

This was it. Six pubs down, 11.5 mile in the legs, the last stop was The New Crown. The last two or so miles along the coast to the final destination, this was the point where you just had to dig deep to get through the final few miles…. As we passed the sea front, Gregory announced he wanted to do the Lawe Top stairs….a crazy few ascended with him and back down again. As we continued along, passing the fair and south marine park getting closer and closer The New Crown, we could see the finish point

13.7 miles from Newcastle to South Shields..no it wasn’t the Great North run,This Was The Beer Half Marathon. The final Pub The New Crown.

What a Spectacular day. Thank you to Gregory B for organising it all and being inspired by the beer marathon. Thanks also to Bethany C, Ryan M and Paul for taking part and to Gary D and Ian S for joining the journey part way through. 13.7 miles of running, laughter and seven pubs.