Run #1674: The Pub Joke Run

In Britain, concerns over drunkenness go back a long way. The first Licensing Act, passed in 1552, required alehouse-keepers to acquire a licence from local justices on the grounds that ‘intolerable hurts and troubles’ arose from drunkenness in ‘common alehouses’. The following year rules were introduced strictly limiting the number of wine taverns that could open in any one town. This legislative distinction between common alehouses and more exclusive wine taverns reflected a long-standing social stratification of drinks in Britain. Lack of native viticulture made imported wine an elite drink, while ale, and later beer (made with hops, which were only widely used from the 15th century), were associated with more popular drinking cultures.

This and further fascinating facts (and the occasional joke) will be dispensed with glee and snooty accents by your English, Irish and Cornish hares this Sunday as they lead you on a delightful gallop through old Olympic venues and other leisure areas waaaaaay out to the west of Beijing. Virgin trail!