“What do you want to do for your birthday?”

“Run and drink beer.”

And that’s what we did. Last year I persuaded some of my friends to do a half marathon and then go to the pub for my birthday. The half marathon turned out to be a bit too short to claim a PB and the pub at the end a bit too far from home. So this year, we ran five miles, visited four pubs and finished just two tube stops from my bed.

The birthday edition of We’ll Run For Beer started at 12pm at Tap East in Stratford. I’d sensed a bit of worry from my fellow beer runners when I sent out the start location. The bar is in Westfield shopping centre. Shopping centres aren’t known for their ambiance or their beer, but thankfully my friends turned up all the same. Tap East doesn’t just serve beer, it brews it on the premises too. I had their IPA.

We had a beer and then ran to the next pub, Crate Brewery, just a mile away and somewhere that I often run past on long runs down the canal, but haven’t stopped at nearly enough. As the name suggests, they also make beer. I had an IPA.

Last year’s beer run saw us visit five pubs over three miles with a 400m sprint between pub #3 and #4. But marathon season is upon us and so this time we covered four pubs in five miles. There was a 3 mile slog down the canal and through Victoria Park between Crate and pub #3: Duke’s in which I clung onto the beer balloon that Katie had bought me and the wind was trying to steal away from me, mainly because it would provide a lifesaver should I fall into the canal.

Duke’s is the birthplace of the Beavertown Brewery, but they don’t brew beer here. They do, however, serve it and the three mile run to get here was motivated purely by my need to taste Bloody ‘Ell – a new brew of theirs (a blood orange IPA).

Time was on our side, and the weather outside was against us, so we stayed for a second beer. I had a Beavertown 8-Ball Rye IPA. Can you see the theme yet?

As we left for the ‘final keg’ of our run, the very kind Laura S went on a diversionary run to collect my birthday cake. I’d made a beer, chocolate and coconut cake and she’d looked after it at her flat which was nearer to the pub.

Our last stop of the day was The Taproom where some non-running friends were waiting for us. I drank some beer here. It was probably an IPA of some sort.

Thanks to all my lovely friends who ran and/or drank beer with me this weekend. You’re all awesome.