Mikkeller Beer Run 5k

May 3 was the inaugural Mikkeller Beer run 5k. It was the perfect capstone to the Copenhagen Beer Celebration and Mikkeller Beer week in Copenhagen. (And if you haven't heard of Mikkeller running club, click here to find a chapter near you! We meet every first Saturday.)

L and I having fun pre-race! Photo Cred

The Mikkeller beer run started and ended at Warpigs- the new bar/restaurant/brewery collab between Mikkeller and 3 Floyd's and ran a nice out and back course along the streets surrounding the bar.

The main perk for this run was the beer. The runners got an amazing choice of on course and post race beer to quench their thirst. Yes. On course refreshment. the aid station at Km4 was well stocked with beer and runners were encouraged to hang out and have a few.

The logistics for this race were a dream. Register online and pick up your bib the morning of the race (with the race starting at 11am). L and I arrived at 9:15 to collect our bibs thinking it would be busy and a cluster Fu#k like many races in the USA, and we were wrong. We had our bibs within 10 seconds and went to a cafe to chill before the race started.
Before the race I ran around the parking lot a few times and did some strides to see where I was at- previously I hadn't run much in the past 2 weeks, plus I've been eating and drinking all the things.
Once my warm up was complete, I lined up for the start and soon we were off. Mikkel and some fast guys took off and I was left in their dust. I was feeling pretty good considering all the beer intake over the past 2 days but let out a loud "oh shit" when I hit the 1km in 4:00. I tried to keep an even effort after that even though my stomach was sloshy and I felt heavy and sloth like.

Drew and Kasper sprinting it out to the finish 

Running on cobblestones is tough. There were some spectators cheering along the course, but mainly folks on bikes who had stopped to see what the commotion was. I seriously considered stopping at the 4km to get a beer but just decided to keep going and continue having fun.

SIDE 5!

I ended up 1st woman of 91, and 28th of 351 starters with a time of 21:48 which would be my 3rd fastest 5k ever! And I had a blast! Everyone was so friendly and encouraging- just like our MRC fun runs and there were many high 5's and cheers to be had.

First and Second place with our prizes! Photo Cred

 I saw L finish strong and cheered on the 18th Street brewer, Drew to an epic sprint finish.

L, Jan and I post race. We rocked it!

We found our friend Jan and got some beer from Firestarter and then got our last meal at Warpigs.
For being 1st woman, I got 2 sweet bottles of beer from 8 Wired brewing and a gift certificate to a local running store.
I have to say this was one of my favorite races ever- it was such a fun relaxed atmosphere and every single person was smiling, drinking beer, and having a blast.

L and I with Kasper at the Mikkeller Bar post race

We made so many new friends on this trip it was amazing!

I really hope we can return next year for Mikkeller beer run 2.0.