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A marathon runner has ignited fierce debate online after completing 26 miles while knocking back an alcoholic drink at literally every single mile.
In a viral clip posted to social media, the shirtless runner, Jack Hosty, can be seen navigating the streets of the Chicago Marathon, trading energy gels and electrolyte sachets for a continuous bar crawl on foot.
Titled ‘26 Drinks For 26 Miles’, the chaotic clip shows him downing shots of Fireball whiskey, cans of beer, seltzers, glasses of champagne, Jell-O shots, and multiple servings of Chicago’s infamously bitter wormwood spirit, Jeppson’s Malört.
At mile three, he even accepted a shot of “mystery juice” paired with a puff of a spectator’s joint.
Not stopping at the 26-mile marker, the runner capped off his 27th drink by performing a full keg stand on the side of the course before crossing the line to collect his official finisher’s medal.
While the clip has racked up massive numbers online, the stunt has divided the running community.
British heptathlete Holly Mills weighed in on the viral video, admitting that while his tolerance is remarkable, the message sends the wrong signal to aspiring runners.
“I personally would never do this, just because doing a marathon alone absolutely wrecks me and I 100 per cent wouldn’t make it to the finish line,” Mills told news.com.au.
“But if someone is able to tolerate the alcohol and keep going, the fair play to them.
“The only caveat would be that so many people who want to do these major marathons to actually attempt a decent run out are unsuccessful in the ballot again and again, so I can see it could be quite disheartening to see reels like this.”
Mills also pointed out the immense health risks of mixing heavy endurance sport with binge drinking.
“Obviously way more dangerous to run a marathon and drink this much alcohol, so creating a reel where it’s seen as possible to run and drink may not be the best advice content he could be putting out. But each to their own,” she shared.
Many social media followers praised Hosty’s act, calling him a “hybrid athlete”.
“This is genuinely impressive,” one person commented on TikTok.
“How did you not puke?” a second user asked.
“You’re psychotic, congrats,” a third shared.
“Absolute legend behaviour congrats,” a fourth echoed.
“How did you survive?” another follower questioned.
However, there were a few others who criticized the marathon-runner’s approach to the race.
“I’m nauseous,” one user claimed.
“Malort is an absolute diabolical move,” a second user chimed in.
“Malort from the bottle is insane,” a third wrote.
“So unhealthy,” a fourth follower expressed.
Medical professionals consistently warn that consuming alcohol during intense endurance events drastically increases the risk of acute dehydration, dangerous heart rate spikes, heat illness, and severe gastrointestinal distress. So this activity should not be tried at home.
Yet despite taking in enough alcohol to floor an entire pub crawl, Mr Hosty appeared all smiles at the finish of the festival, popping a celebratory bottle of bubbly with the caption: “Goodnight”.
