A runner who downed an alcoholic drink at every single mile of the Chicago Marathon last month still crossed the finish line and walked away with an official finisher's medal, according to a viral video that has since racked up attention on social media. Jack Hosty's boozy 26.2-mile journey included shots of Fireball whiskey, beer, seltzers, champagne, Jell-O shots and Jeppson's Malört, along with a shot of mystery juice and a puff of a spectator's joint he accepted at mile three.
The stunt was detailed by the New York Post and captured in a video titled “26 drinks for 26 miles” that was posted to social media after the race, which took place in Chicago on October 11. Hosty reportedly did a keg stand before crossing the finish line to collect his medal, making it his 27th drink, and captioned his post simply “goodnight.” Amos Kipruto won the men's race at this year's Chicago Marathon, though no connection between the two runners has been reported beyond sharing the same course that day.
Social media followers largely praised the display, with some calling Hosty a “hybrid athlete,” per the same account. But not everyone was cheering. British heptathlete Holly Mills told news.com.au she personally would not attempt an alcohol-fueled marathon, warning that mixing heavy drinking with endurance running is dangerous and could send the wrong message to aspiring runners.
A Warning From a British Heptathlete
Mills went further, telling news.com.au that the stunt could be especially discouraging for runners who repeatedly fail to get into major marathons through lottery ballots — athletes who train for months only to miss out on a coveted spot, while someone else treats the same course as a drinking game. Her comments, relayed through the same report, frame the viral moment as more than harmless fun for a sport that many people struggle just to get a starting bib for.
Medical professionals cited in that reporting warn that drinking alcohol during intense endurance events raises the risk of acute dehydration, dangerous heart rate spikes, heat illness and severe gastrointestinal distress. Those warnings track with what sports scientists and nutrition researchers have long said about mixing alcohol with hard exercise.
What Alcohol Actually Does to a Runner's Body
Alcohol is a diuretic, and drinking it can lead to dehydration that leaves runners feeling more fatigued than usual, according to Runner's World. During exercise, the outlet notes, the liver tends to prioritize breaking down alcohol over releasing the glucose and sugars muscles need for energy. Research cited by the publication from 2023 also found that both acute and chronic alcohol use can decrease protein synthesis and increase protein breakdown, which could hamper recovery after a grueling 26.2-mile effort — though the outlet also pointed to a 2019 study of 72 young adults doing high-intensity interval training that found no negative body-composition effects from moderate drinking.
Sports science lecturer Dr Chris Gaffney told Euronews that alcohol consumed during exercise interferes with the body's ability to regulate its own temperature by depleting fluid the body needs for that process. Gaffney added that alcohol can raise heart rate and blood pressure and increase the frequency of abnormal heart rhythms, a combination that can turn dangerous mid-race.
Marathon Rules Say No Drinking, Full Stop
None of that squares with the actual rulebook for the race Hosty ran. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon's event rules state plainly that alcohol consumption is strictly prohibited during the event, and that anyone caught violating the rule will be disqualified and asked to leave the course.
Hosty isn't the first runner to turn a 26.2-mile race into a drinking contest. Justine Huang, 26, ran the 2024 New York City Marathon while drinking, according to NPR. Huang told NPR she had no regrets, despite finishing in around 5 hours and 36 minutes — more than 80 minutes slower than her 4:14 finish at the Chicago Marathon just weeks earlier.
Drinking-fueled races aren't confined to viral stunts, either. Europe has its own lineup of alcohol-adjacent events, including Germany's Genusslauf, Belgium's Forges of the Anlier Forest and Switzerland's Marathon of Flavours, Euronews reported in 2019, alongside the inaugural Marathon des Saveurs in Sion, which built wine-tasting stops directly into the course.
