Providence’s Beloved Grog & Dog Jog Is Back at the Wild Colonial Tavern

Photo by Maia Demar

We all know a relay race. Now imagine a relay race in costume. With a mandatory hot dog and beer at the end of each leg. If that’s something beyond your wildest dreams, you won’t have to imagine it for much longer. Returning on October 18th for its nineteenth year, the Wild Colonial Tavern will be hosting its annual Grog & Dog Jog. 

Each year, Maurice Collins, the owner of the Wild Colonial, and Brien Lang, father of the Grog, organize Providence’s favorite relay race. Amounting to just under a mile’s run, contestants start at the bar, run down South Water Street, across the Pedestrian Bridge, through District Park, and cross the Crawford Street Bridge to end back at the bar, where they have to eat a hot dog and finish a pint of beer before their teammate can run their leg.  

Lang, an avid runner, credits the early ideas for the Grog to a race he used to run, The Big Man Run. Everyone who entered the Big Man had to weigh over 180 pounds, and there were three mandatory bar stops along the course. Lang was inspired enough by the tongue-in-cheek nature of the race, as well as the sense of community, that eventually the Grog & Dog Jog was born. 

If you think running a lap, chugging a beer, and eating a hot dog is a piece of cake, think again. Collins refers to the hot dog eating part of the race as “the great equalizer,” because once you finish the race, your body needs to adjust before you can down a whole hot dog. The bar has seen runners finish the race in record time and still lose because they physically can’t swallow after pushing their body to cross the finish line. In fact, people have spent the months leading up to the Grog training by running a mile and eating a hot dog afterwards, so they’re prepared when the time comes.  

“We’ve had Olympians, we’ve had cross-country champions, we’ve had some really elite runners, but the day always goes to the people who can do both” says Collins.  

Some people choose to dunk their hot dog in the beer to soften it, while others opt for the Joey Chestnut method. Regardless, the sight of out-of-breath runners in costumes trying frantically to down a hot dog while onlookers yell from the barricades will never fail to entertain. 

Although the slogan “the bad idea that keeps getting worse!” is printed on all the merch, the run isn’t just for revelry’s sake; all sales made from signing up for the Grog go toward a selection of charities. 

This year, Collins is opting to keep the charitable giving close to home; all the money from the Grog will be split between four charities, each of which are close to the bar’s heart. The bar’s own Brien Lang is the chancellor of the Manton Avenue Project, a playwriting organization for marginalized youth. Providence World Music, which promotes the music and cultural of African immigrants and refugees, is owned by a friend of the bar. One of the longtime volunteer EMTs at the Grog works for TREO Foundation, which specializes in the education, research, and treatment of obesity. 

The American Kidney Fund was chosen to honor the talented trumpet player and Collins’ dear friend Ritchee Price, who passed away from kidney failure in July. Price played the national anthem on his trumpet before the start of the race every year, and the bar wishes to honor him through a donation to the American Kidney Foundation. Collins reminisces, “you wouldn’t think you could elevate an event this stupid, but Ritchee did it. He elevated everything he touched”. 

Additionally, Collins always picks a beer company to sponsor the Grog, which is the beer that runners end up chugging after their leg of the race. To continue the local theme, this year’s run will be sponsored by Providence’s own Origin Beer Project, who are longtime members of the Wild Colonial family.  

“We’re taking care of everybody this year. The Wild Colonial family, it really is a family, in all the ways that families are loveably dysfunctional,” says Collins, citing a need to give back to our community and take care of the people who have supported the Wild Colonial for so many years. 

The Grog is run on the sidewalk, with EMTs and course marshals on hand. In recent years, the street has been closed off to ensure the safety of runners. No alcohol is consumed until after the run, and non-alcoholic and vegetarian options are available for runners.  

The Grog & Dog Jog will be held at the Wild Colonial Tavern, 250 S Water Street, Providence, at 4pm on October 18th. If you’re interested in running, register your group here.