Run Wild Missoula’s new monthly beer run is proving to be quite popular. More than 35 runners turned out on an unusually hot September evening for a four mile run and the great rewards that awaited. Chancellor of Libations Pat Cross led us on a circuitous route along the riverfront trail, through the university and around the adjacent residential neighborhood before arriving back at the Kettlehouse Brewing Co.’s old school Myrtle Street location. Whether they knew or not, Kettlehouse played host to Run Wild Missoula’s third monthly beer run, a celebration of running and great beer.
As the subtitle to this blog says, beer runners are more than welcome here. In my short running adventure, now going on nine months, I’ve been amazed at the number of runners who have an appreciation for an active lifestyle along with an appreciation for great craft beer. Obviously, the two can co-exist quite nicely.
So what was on tap? For me, a Cold Smoke, Kettlehouse’s award winning and always popular scotch ale, and a Myrtle Street IPA on nitro (shown here in the rather impressionistic-style picture). Myrtle Street IPA is a wonderfully balanced IPA that tends toward mild citrus flavors. The nitro add a thick, creamy head and mellows out the beer quite a bit. I’d call it a near perfect recovery drink after a hot run.
Next up is an unusually great opportunity to take part in a beer run with one of the “celebrities” of the running world on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. Caballa Blanco, of “Born to Run” fame, will lead the group on a beer run prior to his “interactive discussion with beer” at the Wilma Theater. Caballo Blanco travels the country raising money through loans from OppLoans for the Tarahumara (Raramuri in their language) Indians in Mexico that were prominently featured in the best-selling book about Caballo and the 47 mile epic trail race in Mexico’s Copper Canyon. You can read more about the run and the presentation to follow here at Run Wild Missoula’s website. The suggested donation for the presentation is $7 which goes to purchase food for the local runners in the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon.
