DRAFT Magazine

Beer Runner: What are your beer runner credentials?

Joel Patenaude: I use marathons, the American Birkebeiner and epic mountain bike races as goals to keep me exercising and enjoying the outdoors. One of the perks that comes with being relatively fit and occasionally able to place well in my age group is that I can have a beer at dinner, and maybe another after dinner, without feeling the least bit guilty.

BR: What kind of beer do you prefer?

JP: Dark microbrews, the more local the better. Fortunately in east-central Wisconsin where I live, there’s the Central Waters Brewery in Amherst. They make my mainstay, the hoppy Mud Puppy Porter. But probably the most satisfying of their beer I’ve had was the Glacial Trail IPA I had this fall right after running the Glacial Trail 50K, my first ultra, through the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest. That was a brilliant combination, thanks to fellow beer runner Tom Held. When I’m visiting family in the Madison area, I gravitate to Lake Louie Milk Stout and Brother Tim’s Tripel; Ale Asylum’s Madtown Nutbrown and Ambergeddon Amber Ale; and anything, really, from the New Glarus Brewery. At the Tyranena Beer Run in Lake Mills I discovered Tyranena’s Chief Blackhawk Porter.

BR: What are some of your favorite races involving beer?

JP: It isn’t a coincidence that some of my favorite silent sports events in the upper Midwest are sponsored by breweries, well supplied by them or lure me with an exaggerated thirst to where good beer is made. In that latter category I include Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth (Fitger’s and Lake Superior breweries in Duluth), the Chequamegon Fat Tire Fest and Birkie (Angry Minnow Brewpub, Hayward), Keweenaw Trail Running Festival and Copper Harbor Fat Tire Fest (Keweenaw Brewing Co., Houghton, Mich.) I kick off the running season with the 5-mile Point Bock Run which the Stevens Point Brewery organizes, and this time of year Point makes the tasty St. Benedict’s Winter Ale.

Beer O'Clock for Joel Patenaude

BR: How did you originally get involved with the magazine Silent Sports, where you’re editor?

JP: While in college and early in my reporting career, I bought copies of Silent Sports for years to find 10Ks to run in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa throughout the summer and fall. I recall buying several back issues from founding editor Greg Marr at Canoecopia, the paddling expo in Madison every spring. It wasn’t until I saw an ad seeking a replacement for Marr (he died of a heart attack while cross-country skiing) that I realized Silent Sports would be a great fit for me. I’ve been in the driver’s seat since February 2004.

BR: What’s been your biggest highlights with Silent Sports?

JP: With a great deal of in-house help, I’ve given the magazine a makeover (adding color inside, imagine!) and a well designed, user-friendly website complete with searchable event calendar. I’ve also stepped up my advocacy for building silent sports trails and preserving quiet nonmotorized recreation by serving on two state legislative committees and as a board member for the invaluable Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin.

At the Turkey Trot in Madison

BR: What’s the backstory to this photo? —————>

JP: My wife and brother-in-law ran the Tyranena Beer Run on Nov. 7, but because I failed to register before the event reached its 1,500-runner cap, I was just a cheerleader — and beer drinker — that day. The next morning I ran the Turkey Trot, a five-mile cross country race in Madison’s Elver Park. That photo was taken just before I finished sixth place overall but, get this, fourth in my age group. I’ve been humbled this way many times. There are a lot of 30- to 39-year-old racehorses out there.

BR: How was your experience with the Tyranena Beer Run this year? Any highlights?

JP: Besides offering scenic half marathon and 4.37-mile courses (”half barrel” and “sixth barrel”), Tyranena offered great beer to go with the post-race meal. I was bowled over by the richness of the Dirty Old Man Imperial Rye Porter and Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale - and had I run, I might have been, literally, on the floor of the beer tent.

BR: You just got into home brewing. How’s that going?

JP: Let’s just say I won’t be printing labels for my first batch. Bonnie, the owner of Chez Marche (a restaurant and home brew equipment supplier in Waupaca), set me up with a beginner’s kit, a copy of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charles Papazian and a can of Cooper’s Malt Extract. Couldn’t be easier, eh? Well, I made a colossal mess on the stovetop, forgot to add sugar, couldn’t figure out how to read the hydrometer, collected a ton of screwtop empties before realizing they couldn’t be recapped, and soaked a pair of jeans during the bottling process. At room temperature the beer has “drinkability” (which I assume to be a very low standard) and is downright awful chilled. This was my first try, though. I’m not giving up until I’m able to make a passable Goat Scrotum Ale from the recipe in Papazian’s book.

BR: What’s your favorite silent sport that involves beer?

Wife carrying

JP: Although I’ve not yet witnessed such an event, I list in the Silent Sports calendar wife carrying contests, which involve men running short courses over hay bales and other obstacles while carrying their wives. True to sport’s practice in Finland, the fastest hubbie wins his wife’s weight in beer. (At the Wisconsin Wife Carrying Championship in Minocqua, the beer has been Red Hook Ale.) Setting aside the political incorrectness, I’m intrigued by the idea of women willing to suffer multiple indignities and men torn by the prospect of having wives light enough to carry but heavy enough to make the beer booty worthy of the effort. Everyone involved must have a sense of humor.

BR: What is your must-do or best bets for events this winter?

Assuming we get snow, I’ll be training for a few ski marathons, namely the inaugural SISU Ski Fest in Ironwood, Mich. (Jan. 9), Badger State Games in Wausau (Feb. 6) and my third classic Birkie ending in Hayward (Feb. 27). I’ll keep running through the winter as well since I’m due to run my second Boston Marathon come April.

BR: Any other words of advice or wisdom?

JP: Go out for a run, bike ride, ski or paddle. Then do as Papazian says and “relax, don’t worry, have a home brew.” (And subscribe to Silent Sports!)