Fun and charity at Cayman Beer Mile

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 10 October 2017

Competitors had to chug a can of beer before each 400m lap.

There are many races on the local calendar but none quite like the Cayman Beer Mile. The Performance Lab by FN Sports hosted the event that mixes athleticism, team work, strategy and runners downing a few cold ones for an afternoon of fun.

Dozens of runners turned up for the event on 7 September on the grounds of the Cayman Islands Brewery to compete as solo runners, in pairs or in teams of four.

In the end, Michael Testori, running in his Cave Man costume as he did last year, was the quickest on the day. Running in heat two, he completed four laps around the premises with a stop to chug a Caybrew or White Tip before each go-round in five minutes and 34 seconds.

There was no keeping up with Michael ‘The Caveman’ Testori.

Testori’s time was more than 20 seconds quicker than Sean Lilley (5:57), who won the first heat. Tied for third place overall were Stewart Brown and Jamie Hughes, who finished in 6:03.

Other than bragging rights, Testori got the chance to determine how $1000 would be donated to charitable causes. “I’m always up for raising money for a good cause in whatever shape or form that may be,” he said.

The winner chose two causes close to his heart. “I think it is very important at this time to help those in the wake of Hurricane Irma. I work for Walkers and I’ve heard personal experiences of those who went through the hurricane, so I think they really need the money at the moment. Half of the money is going to them,” he told CaymanSportsBuzz.com after the race.

“The other half is going to PAWS in the Cayman Islands, who I have been personally involved with owners all across the island to take care of animals. You’ve seen some stories in the news where there are a few serious cases of animal abuse and this charity aims to address those,” Testori added.

: Laura Gartner seemed to enjoy running the mile and the team event.

: Steve Mitzel helped ‘Run Like the Winded’ to be the fastest team.

Among teams, who had each runner doing one lap after chugging a beer, ‘Run Like the Winded’ of Steve Mitzel, Matthew Olivera, Mark Leist and Kevin Kazibe, was quickest in 4:27. They were seven seconds ahead of second-placed ‘Bad Man Nuh Ramp’ with media personalities Kevin Morales (Cayman 27/Hurley’s Media), Ben Meade (Cayman Sports Buzz) and Andrel Harris (Radio Cayman), along with Abigail Stoddard.

“I feel like this was the best year yet. I was so happy that everyone had such a good time. The crowd really enjoyed it and it was superb,” said FN Sports Founder Kendall Ebanks.

The former amateur boxer turned fitness coach explained that charity is always at the heart of his company’s initiatives. “With all of our events, we always try to make sure that we give back. It’s such a good thing to help and we’ll always look to do that,” he said.

Ebanks’ business partner at FN Sports, Alvin Bhawanie, added: “I would like to say, that the event helps bring the community together, creating one big social event while giving back to charities.”

The organisers thanks their event sponsors: Cayman Islands Brewery, Cayman Spirits Co., Scimitar and X107.1.