9th Annual Beer Mile World Classic to Feature Star-Studded Lineup of Celebrities

CHICAGO – Beermile.com, the official beer mile resource, today announced the celebrity field for the 9th annual Beer Mile World Classic, taking place on Saturday, July 1, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois.

Sponsored by Athletic Brewing Company, America’s largest non-alcoholic craft brewery, the NA Celebrity Beer Mile will feature Catfish TV show host Nev Schulman, U.S. National Rugby Team member Carlin Isles, comedian Francis Ellis, sports media personality Darren Rovell, NFL analyst Cynthia Frelund, and world-class marathoner Ken Rideout.

The six celebrity athletes, who collectively reach more than 5.7 million people across their various social media accounts, will follow the same rules as a traditional beer mile with one key difference: They will consume four cans of Athletic Lite, Athletic Brewing’s 25-calorie non-alcoholic light brew that contains less than 0.5% ABV.

“We are excited to be a sponsor of the 2023 Beer Mile World Classic,” said Chris Furnari, Athletic Brewing’s communications manager. “The beer mile is a time-honored tradition for so many runners, and this is a great opportunity to help make the event more accessible for those individuals who cannot or choose not to consume alcohol.”

Since 2015, the Beer Mile World Classic has served as the official beer mile world championship event. The 1-mile race, invented by a group of Canadian runners in 1989, combines the physical challenge of interval training with the skill of speed drinking.

“We are thrilled to partner with Athletic Brewing and build awareness for the NA Beer Mile with the help of these incredibly talented celebrity athletes,” said Chris Robertson, the 2023 Beer Mile World Classic race director and American beer mile record holder. “A common misconception is that competing with non-alcoholic beer is easier. Racing a mile while consuming 48 ounces of carbonated liquid is a gastric challenge, alcohol content notwithstanding.”

In addition to the Celebrity NA Beer Mile, the 2023 Beer Mile World Classic will feature several open-division heats, as well as elite men’s and women’s races. The event will include a beer festival, food trucks, and music. It is expected to draw a record number of participants and spectators as runners from over a dozen countries attempt to break world records while competing for $15,000 in prize money.

A live stream of the event will begin at 5:30 PM CDT on YouTube. The Celebrity NA Beer Mile presented by Athletic Brewing is scheduled for 6:10 PM CDT.

Full race preview: 2023 Beer Mile World Classic Race Preview
Watch the action live on the Beer Mile Media YouTube Channel

The Celebrities

Darren Rovell

You know Darren Rovell as the business reporter who has covered sports for the past two decades with ESPN, CNBC, and the Action Network.

What you might not know is that Darren is the managing partner of Tastemaker Capital, a food and beverage venture capital firm. Over the last six years, Tastemaker has made investments in Athletic Brewing, Biena, Foxtrot, Love Corn, and PopUp Bagels. He is the CEO of Kickstand Cocktails.

Rovell also runs his own memorabilia fund, which includes signature pieces such as Ferris Bueller’s vest worn by Matthew Broderick in the 1986 film.

Darren has finished two marathons — the New York Marathon (2004) and the Chicago Marathon (2018) and has the most watched 40 in the world, as his running of it has more than 11 million views on YouTube.

He came in fifth in the world in Watermelon Seed Spitting and is one of the few people to have played for both the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals.

Nev Schulman

Nev Schulman is a TV host, writer, runner, dancer, and father. Nev is best known for the 2010 documentary film Catfish and the follow-up TV series Catfish: The TV Show on MTV of which he is the host and executive producer.

Nev picked up running as a hobby in his 30s and has since become a multi-marathon finisher (2:58:54 PR) and has integrated running into his everyday life as well as becoming an Under Armour Running athlete.

Carlin Isles

Carlin Isles is a U.S. National Rugby Team member and has been touted as the fastest man in rugby.

Carlin was a gifted track and field and American football athlete growing up. He attended Ashland University where he was an All-American sprinter on the track and holds school records for most kickoff return yardage in a game (174 yards) and longest kickoff return for TD (100 yards).

Cynthia Frelund

Cynthia Frelund is NFL Media's first analytics expert, and can be seen across a variety of NFL Media shows and platforms. During the week, you can see Cynthia on NFL Fantasy Live and every Friday on NFL GameDay View.

Frelund joined the NFL from ESPN, where she was a Predictive Analytics Analyst for two years.

Prior to that, she served as a business development manager for Disney ABC Television Group, and a finance analyst for the NFL.

Frelund graduated from Boston College with a B.S. in Biology in 2005 before receiving her MBA in Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation and continuing in the MS of Predictive Analytics at Northwestern University.

She is a marathon runner, a former Pilates and group fitness instructor, and is involved with Bright Pink, a national non-profit organization focused on preventing breast and ovarian cancer in young women. Frelund was born and raised in Okemos, Michigan.

Francis Ellis

Francis is a standup comedian, actor, and writer. He tours nationally and has been known to stop shoulder lane cutters from ruining the world.

Francis is also a personality for Barstool Sports, writing and appearing in various content. He has featured in the Gilly and Keeves sketch series. He keeps in relatively decent shape and looks forward to breaking the beer mile world record.

Ken Rideout

Bio coming soon