Bellemore ponders retirement from Beer Mile
After winning the Beer Mile World Classic on Saturday at the University of Windsor Corey Bellemore announced his retirement from the circuit on Beer Mile Media, but will he completely step away? "After this one, step away for a little, re-evaluate but then I heard it's in Amsterdam next year." Bellemore said during the post race video.
Retirement might be hiatus instead because of the lure of Amsterdam. His future father-in-law travelled to Belgium to watch Corey run the event in 2022 before visiting family in Holland. It could be difficult for Bellemore to overlook an opportunity to defend his title and visit family with his new in-laws.
"It would be very difficult to give up the connection to this community." Bellemore said during the video. If he does decide it's over, Bellemore goes out on top after winning Saturday's race in 4:30.47. He still holds to world beer mile record of 4:28.10 set in 2021 and has won three straight and five of the last eight world championships.
For now, the University of Windsor grad and track standout is taking a few moments to let the success of last weekend's event sink in. A great crowd was on hand and he won the race. Bellemore is thankful for those that helped bring the event to Windsor. "It's phenomenal. The community really helped out a lot." He told Powerplay Sports.
Bellemore appreciated seeing many familiar faces from the track community, family and friends who got to watch him chug beer while sprinting around the track. He also enjoyed the fact competitors from all over the world came to the city for the event. "It was eye opening to see where the interest was coming from. International. North American and the Windsor community showed up."
Bellemore does have a half ironman coming up later this year so we know he's not completely walking away from being competitive. The future is uncertain but Bellemore is thankful for the moment he got to enjoy Saturday with family, friends, fans, sponsors and volunteers.
"The crowd, energy and atmosphere was top notch. I had a blast. I had a lot of fun and am appreciative of everyone that showed up."
Here's the race.
And here's the video of Bellemore talking about retirement.
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