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Athletes take on heat and local brews in Microbrew Mile Series

Moline, Illinois–  Running and beer don’t seem like a likely pair but today hundred of athletes came together for the 5th Annual Microbrew Mile Seri...

Moline, Illinois--  Running and beer don't seem like a likely pair but today hundred of athletes came together for the 5th Annual Microbrew Mile Series.

 "This is great. I’ve never been down to this race before and I didn’t realize it was this big of a deal, it’s really neat," said Judie Gulley. Gulley participated in todays race to prepare for an upcoming marathon. She is looking forward to participating again in the future.

Gulley isn't the only first timer. Recent Augustana College graduate, Kevin Claus raced in the elite mile.

"I did pretty good, I got fourth and it was a lot of fun. The course is a loop. I think a lot of runners are fans of loops instead of out and backs," said Claus. 

Runners braved the heat battling for their personal best.

"I love competition, I can’t do anything unless it’s competitive. Nothing," said Gulley.

Race organizers were prepared to take on the heat. They set up water stations all over the course but for athletes, like Judie and Kevin, the heat is hard to prepare for.

"Stay cool? You don`t. You just get hot but you know you have to play it safe," said Gulley.

The heat took a toll on all the runners.

"The heat will always affect a runner I think no matter what. It was pretty hard you wanna make sure that you’re hydrated, you wanna make sure that you’ve been drinking fluids for at least a day maybe two days, maybe even more," said Claus.

The race combined with all the local craft beer creates a unique environment.

The proceeds from the race today benefit three local charities; The Children's Therapy Center of the Quad Cities being the biggest organizer. The charities added this year are the Chris VanSpeybroeck Memorial Scholarship and the Mississippi Bend Trykes.

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