Beer-miler Lewis Kent signs shoe and apparel deal with Brooks

— -- Lewis Kent will never be a professional runner, but the 22-year-old student at the University of Western Ontario -- and "beer-miler" -- has been signed by running brand Brooks to a shoe and apparel deal.

It is believed to be the first mainstream sponsorship for a beer miler. When Kent set the record for the beer mile on Tuesday night -- he ran a mile and drank four beers in 4 minutes and 51 seconds -- he also announced that he had signed with Brooks.

"It's pretty surreal," Kent said Wednesday, on his way to class. "I've always liked to run and drink beer, but I never thought I would be considered world class for doing both."

Jenine Lafayette, marketing manager for Brooks Canada, would not disclose the financials of the two-year deal with Kent, other than to say the deal will pay him "more than we would pay an amateur athlete and less than we would pay an Olympian." The deal does include bonuses should he win some of the big events on the beer mile calendar, she said.

Kent, who is on the school's track team, has a personal mile record, without beer, of four minutes and 15 seconds. The fact that he can drink four beers in 35 seconds makes him world class. Olympian Nick Symmonds, for example, has a personal beer mile record of five minutes and 19 seconds.

After setting a then record beer mile of 4 minutes and 55 seconds at the Beer Mile Classic in San Francisco in August, Kent contacted Montreal-based sports marketing agent Kris Mychasiw, who set up a meeting with Brooks.

"I think, over the past couple of years, the beer mile has gone from something collegiate runners did to something more serious," Mychasiw said. "And there's a lot appeal to the guys who can who can do this."

Lafayette said that Brooks had been watching the beer mile revolution for a couple years and was looking for a way to dip their toe in the space.

"We heard about Lewis and how he wanted to use the beer mile to put Canada on the map," Lafayette said. "We feel like our brand zigs when others zag and while our competitors might be all about the sweat and tears of the run, we're about the pursuit of happiness along the way."

Although Kent received no prize money for winning the Beer Mile Classic, that could be changing given the attention the beer mile is getting.

Last year, online streaming company FloTrack pumped nearly $250,000 in funds and resources to host a World Beer Mile Championships, which will take place again in Austin, Texas on Dec. 1. The winners take home $2,500 and $5,000 for a world record.

FloTrack CEO Mark Floreani said the company invested in the beer mile because of the traction that it got from people outside the running community.

"There's a lot of interest in the beer mile," Floreani said. Floreani admitted there might be less interest in someone actually setting the mile record, but "we're trying to change that."

In the meantime, FloTrack has helped set the official rules beer mile record keeping. Runners drink a 12 ounce beer, which cannot be light and has to have more than five percent alcohol, every quarter of a mile. Each beer can have a maximum of 3.5 ounces left in it when a runner takes off. A runner is disqualified if he or she leaves more in the bottle or throws up.

When Kent graduates this year, he plans to go to postgraduate school to pursue a career in physical therapy, but if the interest in the beer mile continues, there's a shot -- like the top competitive eaters -- that he could make a career out of this.

On Tuesday night, hours after Kent set the record, Amsterdam Beer, the Toronto-based brew that is Kent's beer of choice, retweeted the YouTube clip of Kent's run. Mychasiw is now in touch with them to see if that is Kent's next partner.