Beer Run: 9 Years Since Last Run

Martel, Jones Celebrate Strong Performances

By Anita Alem     3/23/16 4:00pm

Finishing times indicate Martel College won the women’s and men’s races and Jones College won the alumni race at Beer Bike where, for the first time since 2007, a running race took place instead of biking. Rice Program Council has not yet calculated penalties and official results. In response to the cancellation, some colleges may participate in an unofficial event titled “Pizza Bike” this Saturday to allow some of the bikers to race.

Martel men’s bike captain Colin Losey said even though the bike team ultimately did not have a chance to show what they have been training for, he was proud of their dedication.

“The race speaks to more than just that Martel has fast people, but that Martel has a great community that people love and want to represent well,” Losey, a sophomore, said. “Our men’s team plans to win next year, bike or run, and the year after, bike or run.”

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Risk Management, Environmental Health and Safety and the Student Activities office all agreed to turn Beer Bike into a Beer Run, according to campus-wide Beer Bike Coordinator Annabelle McIntire-Gavlick.

“The main concern was the wind,” McIntire-Gavlick, a Lovett college junior, said. “ It can be very dangerous for bikers to bike in high winds and no one was comfortable taking that risk with how strong it was.”

Losey said Martel’s initial reaction to the Saturday morning declaration that Beer Bike would involve a run and not a bike race was mixed.

“Personally, I really wanted to bike race because we had been training so much, and I wanted to see how far we had come from last year when we got eighth,” Losey said. “It was a mixed reaction in Martel, but I was personally disappointed.”

Some Martelians had been hoping for a run because several members of Martel’s men’s team were formerly on Rice’s track team, and Martel had performed well at the intramural cross country competition in the fall.

Will Rice College women’s bike captain Michaela Dimoff said when the college’s approximately 60-person Beer Bike cohort learned of the change at a breakfast event at the master’s house, the initial reaction was sadness, although that gave way to determination.

“We just said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna take this in stride — it’s not what we wanted but maybe we’ll get to add a beer run sweep banner to our commons next year, so let’s just keep trying,’’’ Dimoff, a senior, said. “I actually wasn’t as devastated as a lot of people thought I would be. I thought it was kind of fun to be able to do something different.”

Dimoff said she enjoyed that bikers were able to be a part of the water balloon fight, something they are not typically involved in for fear of injury, and that she didn’t have to be concerned about biking.

“It was nice to be able to go through the morning without the looming specter of ‘I have to go give it everything that I have and be in a lot of pain for a minute and 40 seconds in a few hours,’” Dimoff said.

Dimoff said she was happy for Martel and hoped the college would be able to take advantage of its momentum to keep performing highly in the bike team next year.

“Biking does a great job of bringing Will Rice together as a community and I want that experience for everyone,” Dimoff said. 

In the men’s race, Wiess College crossed the finish line in second place. Wiess’ men’s bike team captain Yoseph Maguire said he felt the race was much more interesting.

“Martel and Wiess both were underdogs going into Beer Bike, yet because of the rain and the wind, we ended up turning out a huge upset,” Maguire, a sophomore, said. “It encouraged a huge sense of unity among Wiessmen and a surge in Wiess pride. I anticipate it’ll help Wiess improve for Beer Bike next year.”

Brown College women’s bike captain Alison Lindsay said Brown also was disappointed about the rain, especially since interest in biking for the men’s and women’s teams not only met but exceeded the required number.

“We were upset when we found out that it was Beer Run — one of our captains even drove over to the track with towels to try and dry the puddle in the pit,” Lindsay said. “Once Beer Run started, we all had a great time, but we still want to [do] a bike race.”

In response to the rain, several captains and coordinators across campus are working together to organize a completely unofficial race, called Pizza Bike, for this Saturday at 11 a.m. as a chance for bikers to get together and have a friendly competition, according to Losey and Lindsay. 

“To my understanding, there will be no alcohol and it will not be a part in any sense of the word,” Losey said.

The Graduate Student Association, Martel, Brown, Duncan College and Jones will be participating in Pizza Bike to at least some extent, whether that involves a full team with pit crew and chuggers or only a few bikers from either the men’s or women’s team. Maguire said Wiess chose not to participate because of the logistical challenges it presents. Dimoff said Will Rice will participate if Pizza Bike is an approved event through any administrative channels as necessary.

Clarification: The last beer run across all races, men's, women's and alumni, occurred in 2007. There were partial beer runs in 2010 and 2011.

Edit: RPC released its official results on Wednesday afternoon including penalties, indicating that the GSA won the alumni race. Martel won the women's and men's races.

Alumni 
1st - GSA - 15:47.36
2nd - Will Rice - 15:50.59
3rd - Jones - 15:50.74

Women 
1st - Martel - 16:42.74
2nd - Wiess - 17:06.02
3rd - Jones - 17:09.15

Men 
1st - Martel - 13:29.64
2nd - Wiess - 13:49.24
3rd - Jones - 14:06.96

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