There may be more to a runner's high than we initially thought.

A new study has uncovered information so hard to believe it will blow the tap off your keg: drinking beer can help competitive runners.

Hold onto your Heinekens, folks, because the Department of Preventative and Rehabilitative Sports Medicine of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen in Germany based their conclusions on more than 275 people who competed in the 2009 Munich Marathon.

And while you may think it's hard to stand up straight when you've imbibed, let alone keep moving in your Reeboks, the research found drinking has a long-term benefit.

Runners who downed non-alcoholic wheat beers in the weeks before the race were less likely to come down with colds or upper respiratory infections than teetotalers after crossing the finish line.

Those who boozed it up enjoyed 1.5 liters on a daily basis, compared to another group that had a placebo. The runners who drank the non-alcoholic beer wound up beefing up their immune systems while decreasing the chances they'll catch a cold.

If you'd like to learn more about the scientific breakthrough of the century, grab a six-pack and check out the January edition of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Or, if they keep putting out material like this, what we will refer to as our Bible.

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