Cottonmouth 8 Mile & Beerlay

🐍🍺 Welcome to the Annual Cottonmouth Beerlay! 🍺🐍

Run fast. Drink hard. Don’t get bit.

What do you get when you combine trail running, random beers, and your most competitive (and possibly least coordinated) friends? The Cottonmouth Beerlay, baby! This wild race at the beautiful Lakewood Nature Preserve is back for another year of glorious chaos, beer-fueled miles, and unforgettable memories.

You can run it solo if you're a one-person party machine, or grab a few beer-loving buddies and tackle it as a relay team of 2–4. Either way, you're in for 8 miles of pure, ridiculous fun.

Are you fast enough to outrun the Cottonmouth? Or will the beer bite first?

🏃‍♂️ How It Works:

• Loop: Each lap is a 2-mile trail loop through the preserve. You’ll do it 4 times total.
• Beer: Before every lap, runners must consume a randomly-selected beer from the BYOB community pool.
• Relay: Solo runners do it all themselves. Relay teams tag in one runner per lap.
• Age Restriction: 21+ only for the drinking portion, of course. Minors and Sober folks may run with non-alcoholic alternatives but must be carbonated.

🍻 BYOB Russian Roulette (a Cottonmouth Classic)

• Bring: Each runner brings 4 beers (5%+ ABV), which are tossed into our giant iced community kitty pool.
• Mystery Brew: When it's your turn to run, a volunteer will hand you a mystery brew, already cracked and poured.
• Deal: You drink it, you run it. Deal with the consequences.
• No Swapping: No swapping. No peeking. No mercy.

🏅 Post-Race Beer Olympics

• Party: The party definitely doesn’t stop at the finish line.
• Games: Once everyone’s stumbled their final lap, we crank up the music, toss some pizza your way, and break out the Beer Olympics yard games:
• 🍻 Beer Pong
• 🪢 Tug of War
• 🏐 Dodgeball
• 🌽 Cornhole
• ⛳ Hillbilly Golf
• 🔄 Spike Ball

📍 Race Details:

• Location: 220 Lakewood Preserve, Greenville, SC 29607
• Start Time: 4:00 PM
• Solo: 8 Mile Solo – 4 laps, 4 beers
• Relay: 8 Mile Relay (2-4 people) – 4 laps total, 1 lap per runner per round
• Packet Pickup: On-site starting at 3:00 PM
• Strava Course Map: COURSE MAP HERE

🌲 The Course:

Held at the scenic and shady Lakewood Nature Preserve just outside Greenville, SC, the course features:

• A 2-mile grassy trail loop
• Rolling hills (they feel bigger after a beer)
• Wildlife sightings (deer, foxes, and maybe your dignity)
• A rustic barn that serves as our race HQ and beer-staging zone

✨ Bonus Vibes:

• 🌭 Hot Dog Bar & party after you finish
• 📸 Free race photos
• 🎽 Custom race bibs + giveaway swag
• 🎶 Good tunes, loud laughs, and a wild crew
• 🌱 Support for a local nature preserve & sustainable fun

📜 Upstate Race Series Registration Policies & Options

✅ Transfers

• Registered participants may transfer their entry to another person through their RunSignUp profile
• Transfer & Manage Registration HERE

✅ Distance Changes

• Participants may switch to a different race distance (e.g., drop from Half Marathon to 5K).
• Switch Distance & Manage Registration HERE

✅ Club & Referral Discounts

• Join the Upstate Running Club and receive 15% OFF registration.
• Refer 2+ runners and receive $5 OFF.

✅ Race Shirts & Swag

• Race shirts are sold and shipped separately.
• Finisher medals and awards (age group & overall) are not shipped.

✅ Refunds & Deferrals

• No refunds or deferrals will be offered (unless the event sells out).
• If the race sells out, you may request a 50% OFF code for a future Upstate Race Series event.

For more information, visit the race page: Cottonmouth Beerlay.