Going out for a run, anyone?
Take your New Year’s resolution on the road with a series of “virtual” 5K races that also support Atlanta breweries.
The "Tour of Breweries" is a series of 3.1-mile jaunts in the first three months of 2020, allowing participants to combine a New Year's fitness goal and some locally brewed suds.
Here’s how it works: Runners can register either as an individual or with a group, then starting Jan. 15, there will be 5K routes near four local breweries (to be announced).
Participants can complete the courses on their own time and track on a running app, then enjoy a beer or two afterward. Since it’s a “virtual 5K,” runners won’t be competing against each other in real time.
For those who post all their completed 5K times in the app by March 15, there will be glasses from each brewery awarded at a closing party.
The event’s organizers, Kelly Scott and Andrew Griffin, said it’s also a chance to support Atlanta’s breweries during a time that can be slower for the beer industry.
"We hope this helps support them through this season. It is also fun to get people out of their routine by giving them a reason to try out a new brewery. It brings the communities together and we hope that it will grow to an Atlanta tradition bring all of the area together," the organizers said in a statement.
Registration is $30 if you sign up by Jan. 9. It includes a shirt and flight board ready to be filled with glasses from the different breweries, which will be awarded for finishing the challenge.
Since 2017, when the Georgia law around breweries changed, a variety of places have opened their doors to beer lovers across town.
The new law allowed breweries to sell beer directly to customers and nixed the previous rule requiring tours in order to sell from taprooms.
According to the Brewers Association, Georgia was home to 82 craft breweries in 2018. That's up from just 21 in 2011 and 53 in 2016.
Nationwide, there were more than 7,000 craft breweries operating last year, which was nearly double the number open in 2014.
