(1 Aug 2016) LEAD IN:
A race where competitors must down a beer for every lap of the track has taken place in London for the first time.
The Beer Mile started life in the US as a cult underground sport, but it's now an international event with sponsorship for its elite athletes.

STORY-LINE:
A sport where the party starts as the race begins.
Beer Mile world record holder Corey Bellemore from Canada shows how fast he can drink a beer at the start of the elite men's race in London.
Most Beer Milers are from North America where the sport has been a popular after hours activity at running clubs for more than 20 years.
Only once the beer is finished can the athletes set off on their lap, their bellies full of fizzy alcoholic liquid.
After the first lap - a distance of a quarter of a mile (400 metres) - runners return to a ten-metre 'chug zone' to drink their second beer.
They keep this up for four laps - and four beers.
Not everyone manages to keep their alcoholic beverages down, some vomit spectacularly on the track. If they're spotted they incur a penalty lap.
Some runners devote years to practicing technique. They say it is not just about being a fast drinker and a fast runner, but managing breathing and belching in between drinks.
Bellemore, currently the world's fastest Beer Miler, laps half of the England team to finish his race in four minutes 34 seconds, beating his own record set days earlier.
The current men's world record for running a mile without drinking any beer is currently three minutes 43 seconds.
"I'm really excited because I beat my own record today. I wasn't expecting it because I'm pretty jet-lagged still, but it's cool to actually do it, so," he says.
This is only the second international Beer Mile competition. The first took place in San Francisco in 2015.
Before that runners competed with each other by posting their times on the internet.
Spectators calmly sip beer on the sidelines of the event at Allianz Park, in north London.
Some of the elite women's competitors struggle to chug their beers quickly.
A table on the side of the track shows the beers of choice for competitors, many of the most experienced runners opt for bottled, rather than canned beer, as they say it is less fizzy.
Many are here simply to beat their own personal best.
Elite women's runner from the USA, Erin O'Mara, wins the women's race with a time of six minutes 43 seconds.
Beer Mile World Classic co-founder Nick McFalls ensures there are enough beers out for competitors between every race.
"The rules are it has to be five percent, 12 ounces or 355 millilitres, if you puke you do a penalty lap and all the chugging has to be done in the 'chug zone', which is the ten metre area between where a mile starts and the four laps after that," he says.
The competitors come in all shapes and sizes, some finding their talent in drinking, others in running. Only elite athletes can claim expertise in both.
Runner Mo Lam, who's come all the way from San Francisco to compete, is finding it hard knocking back her beers.
"It feels great now, like it's awesome now, during the race sucks because you feel like you're going to throw up and then you see vomit left and right of you as you're running through the track and it makes you want to vomit," she says.
Strategically-placed bins at the side of the 'chug zone' allow runners to vomit without making too much mess.
Londoner Hannah Machin sets an impressive pace in her first Beer Mile.
Harold Wyber, also from the UK, has a team of supporters there to cheer him on as his struggles to drink his beer.


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