Running For Beer

My friend and neighbor Bill, had an ingenious idea Friday evening. The Runner’s Pub Crawl in Kalamazoo. We suited up Friday after work and plotted our course. We decided on a rough course of running from home, (Westnedge Hill) to Bell’s for a pint, then from Bell’s to Harvey’s for a quick pint/drink, then from Harvey’s to O’Duffy’s. As it turned out we added Martini’s Pizzeria around the corner due to the waiting list. All told it was around 5.5 miles.

The run took place on a cloudless breezy temperate day in August. As we will inevitably be submerged into 4 and a half months of darkness, one has to take advantage of the blissful sunlight while one can. There is really no better time or way to take advantage of the dense propagation of fine drinking establishments in downtown Kalamazoo than by running to each of them. I’ve done a cyclocross race in the Kiss Cross series called cycling for beer. But I’ve never heard of running for beer. Now was our chance to make that happen.

Stop One

Bill and I set an easy pace down to Bell’s, I had a business call while running, and was trying not to sound out of breath while heading downtown. We had a blissful pint out in the beer garden out at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe. Our wives biked down with the kids to meet us. We finished up and used the restroom to head over to O’Duffy’s.

Stop Two

We sort of got sidetracked while on the walking Mall and ran into Harvey’s to have a quick shot with some of my friends from Biggs-Gilmore. All I can say is that a shot of Jaeger and Monster is fortifying while running short distances.

Stop Three

O’Duffy’s was hopping. We even ran into local celebrity and author Bryan Charles who wrote Grab on to me Tightly As If I Knew The Way. I pumped him for information on his next book. No information was forthcoming other than, it is being edited. We downed a pint of Guinness and were planning dinner when it became apparent that being served at Cosmo’s was going to take a while due to the wait. So we decided to add one more stop for kicks and giggles.

Stop Four

Martini’s Pizzeria. We were seated immediately and ordered some salads and calzones. I was dreading the run back up Westnedge Hill. It has an infamous pitch and there is no way around it to get home. As it stood we made it back in style with no unplanned dinner refunds.