Poole, Gai chug way to Beer Mile 1st place

In celebration of International Beer Day last Aug. 2, beer and running enthusiasts found themselves in the 3rd Annual Michelob Ultra Beer Mile 2024 challenge that combined both booze and exercise—all while trying not to drench up the already rain-coated course at the Saipan Vegas Country Club with the contents of their stomach.

Each runner had to drink one beer, run 400m, drink another beer, run 400m, drink a third beer, run 400m, drink a fourth beer and then take another 400m loop to finish the course.

Last Friday, they took to the slippery grass loop, with Leith Poole finding his way back on top of the men’s division, while Madge Gai drank and ran her way to first place in the women’s division.

Poole, who’s participated in every single Beer Run—topped the inaugural race in 2022, then fell behind to second place last year. This time around, he tapped equally into both his drinking and running prowess to redeem himself and be crowned the drunken master once again with his time of 7:32.

Second place was Greg Trusso at 8:17 and third place went to Aaron Pamintuan 8:29.

Poole, a physical education teacher at Marianas High School, said his plan of attack this year was to try to relax, he didn’t drink water three hours before the race, and had just one meal. “I tried to relax and tried not to get the nerves to get a hold of me because when you’re competing in the beer mile, it’s not the same as doing it and jogging—it’s trying to win—so just relax a little bit,” he said.

As to why he’s joined every Beer Run event, he said, “I’m winning. A lot of the guys are better runners than me, but when they’ve had beer, they cannot run—while I can run and drink pretty well. I just combined the two and I realized when I first did it that it was a unique experience. I was intimidated by the runners when I first came and I wasn’t planning on being in the Top 10, but I won, so I was like ‘hey, let’s have some fun.’”

In the women’s division, donned in a costume specifically made for the event—a black/golden bikini top and golden skirt—Gai ran into first place with a time of 9:53 to push out defending champion Rosemarie Chisato who settled for second place at 10:26. Third place was Soledad Tenorio 10 seconds later at 10:36.

Gai, a 33-year-old Chinese-English court interpreter said this was her first time to join the event because of conflicts of schedule in the past races, and she’s glad to have joined this year’s race because it was “a lot of fun.”

Through the race, she said that the third drink and lap was rough as she and Chisato were neck-and-neck, so in the last lap, Gai turned on the afterburners after a spurt of motivation to clinch the title in style.

She said that she’s part of the Saipan Hash group, wherein they regularly hike and drink around Saipan’s jungles—so for her, it’s a regular thing. “I have been trained for years for this race,” she said.

Not only does she drink, she also runs regularly and completed the full marathon in the Saipan Marathon last March. She said she also signed up for the Run Saipan half marathon later this month.

Results of the event’s first ever Corporate Relay Division will be posted in the next issue of Saipan Tribune.