<:: Welcome to Slowtwitch.com ::>

Defending champion Josh Shadle, a master massage therapist, and challenger Lars Finanger and a host of other crazies gathered Thursday at 3 PM at a secret location in North Boulder for the 4th annual Boulder Beer Mile. The goal: Beat the reported Encinitas Beer Mile winning time of 6:23 – despite freezing temps, an icy and slushy track, and thin air at 5,430 feet altitude.

Sadly, Shadle fell 13 secondd short in the battle of the triathlon Meccas.

The rules were simple: Drink one 12-ounce beer before each of four laps of the 400- meter track. Time starts when the first beer is cracked open. If an entrant spills too much beer or foam, they don’t have to drink another beer. But they must complete a fifth lap.

Three time defending women’s champion Joanna Zeiger was in attendance but not at the start line. She still has a pound of metal and screws rattling around in her shoulder holding the collarbone shattered in a bike crash at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship at Clearwater. Current Ironman 70.3 and Xterra world champion Julie Dibens, an aficionado of British pubs, was rumored to be a challenger, but failed to show.

But multisport whiz and chemical engineering whiz Amber Rydholm was ready and able to hold up the women’s honor, topping the category in 10:23, well off Zeiger’s 2008 mark. Two other women were game entries, but one chundered and the other called a halt after three laps of the 400- meter track.

In the men’s race, Shadle broke out to an early lead, but Finanger came on strong starting the final lap and took the lead. Two-time champ Shadle stayed cool, however. “He seemed very confident starting the lap, so I let him go,” said Shadle. “But I saw there was some lapped traffic on the backstretch, so I waited until he was pinched in and I went wide in the snow and shut him off.” Finanger, who shoveled snow to create a single track lane around the track, could not answer. Shadle hit the line in 6:36, breaking his own course record by one second, and Finanger finished second in 6:38, the closest Boulder Beer Mile finish. Dreier, former roommate of Finanger, scored the final podium spot in 7:04. Valentyik was 4th in 7:25, with Billy Edwards 5th in 8:32.

Onlookers included Zeiger, Tim O’Donnell, who may or may not have been scouting the race for 2010. The Man, Dave Scott, said he his visit was merely social. “I like to drink my beer in a more leisurely fashion,” he said.

Photo gallery © Timothy Carlson