Too many people will tell you that beer and running don't mix, especially in large quantities, when in fact quite the opposite is true, and there are many races and events in the calendar which reflect this.
Beer training within the club is focused around the weekly pub sessions, allowing an opportunity to hone downing and gulping techniques of fine ales in an atmosphere conducive to healthy competition and relaxed inebriation. Towards the end of Michaelmas term the pub sessions focus around selection and squad training for the Varsity 'Boat Races' (see below), while Michaelmas term is traditionally begun with a Freshers' Pub Crawl, to introduce some of the likely venues for the year's pub sessions, and as well as some basic training practises. More intensive pre-season training happens on bi-annual training camps (see 'Challenges' below), with daily pub sessions to condition the gullet and liver ahead of a hard term's socialising and competitive drinking.
At both 2nds-4ths and the Blues races, once the day's running is over and before the hard partying begins, select teams of 8 (6 gentlemen and 2 ladies) from each University meet to race the final event of the day. A boat race is a 'back-to-back' pint of beer relay; pints must start on the table, with hands clasped on (competitors' own) thighs, and the next drinker picks up once the previous racer's glass is empty and upside down on their head. Spillage prior to the final glass turn should be recompensed with penalty swills by the last drinker. Boat races also tend to occur at any large gathering of drinking athletes, and are frequently hosted at BUCS cross-country, and in the past on international soil at the Relais Centrale Paris.
The highlight of the beer-racing calendar is usually held in the last week of Lent term, or sometime between the AGM and Annual Dinner. First held in 2000, under the captaincy of Rob 'Lord' Fergus, the event is now honoured with a tankard trophy, has been interrupted twice by police, and censured on two occasions by the University authorities. Prevented by them from racing at the athletics track, the event moves from park to park to avoid prosecution. In 2007 an unratified world record was set by Richard Ward of 5:06. It is organised by the club, but open to all willing victims from around the university. The premise is simple: drink 1 pint beer, run 1/4 mile, repeat 3 more times. The result is usually carnage. Drinks must be full pints (for both sexes), but non-drinkers may compete with fizzy soft-drinks (the trophy can only be won with beer). Serious spillage should be reflected with a time penalty. Vomiting is not frowned upon. Typically an 1/8 mile line is measured for running and each leg starts and finishes at the drink station. Ideally all splits are recorded for each runner, therefore a large supporting cast is necessary for smooth management of the event. Chunder Miles are an internationally recognised event, although regulations differ significantly across the Atlantic, where it is know as a 'Beer Mile', and substantially less challenging. The beermile.com website has lots of background though. An annual Chunder Mile is held at Loughborough, with more stringent rules and affiliated marshals and the only known Varsity Chunder Mile was held in Paris in 2003 and won by Cambridge. There is a facebook group devoted to the event. Variations include the 'Pukka Pies and Pints' mile.
A yard glass was donated by Club Captain Rob 'Lord' Fergus in 2000, and traditionally raced at the annual BBQ. This was broken in 2005 in a tragic example of why Americans aren't so hot on 'soccer'. It was replaced in 2007 by Philip Scard. The new glass, though called a 'yard' is technically a 4.75 pint glass Stiefel (boot) from Switzerland. The rules are simple - the whole contents must be drunk and kept down until the timer is stopped, therefore any 'return' must be returned to the glass, and drunk again. The inaugural record was 4:57, set by the donor. Those looking for more traditional yard glasses for training will find them in many pubs around the town, including the St. Radegund.
Club training camps present the best opportunity for concerted beer training coupled with high mileages, which has led to the establishment of a number of '100' Challenges. The most basic of these is the 100 point challenge, where 1 point is awarded for every mile run or pint of beer drunk. No substitute activities or drinks are permitted. The intermediate level event is the 100 pint week, or for the more serious runners 100 pints + 100 miles in a week. However, true animals will want to set their sights on the 'Triple Hundred', being 100 miles run and 100 pints of beer drunk in 100 hours. This has only been accomplished once, by Robin Thomas of Hunter's Bog Trotters club. It is not for the faint-hearted/livered.
Outside of the Hare & Hounds the best place to find running and beer existing in harmony are the local Hash House Harriers, such as the Cantab Hash. Self-proclaimed 'drinkers with a running problem', each of their weekly easy runs starts and finishes at the St. Radegund Pub, for beer 'down-downs' and general drinking, and usually includes a beer stop half way round. Annually they run to the Milton Brewery and do a bit of drinking when they get there. They also enter runners for the 'River Run' which involves a half pint in each of 10 pubs from the St. Radegund to the Blue Ball in Grantchester, and the infamous and historic 'King Street Run' in which anybody who drinks all 8 pints (along King Street) without throwing up or visiting the loo in under an hour receives the event tie!