When Caitlin Landesberg, 33, discovered she is intolerant to gluten in 2012 due to an autoimmune condition, it had a surprising side effect on her running that the doctors didn’t warn her about: post-workout happy hours tasted terrible.

Landesberg, who at the time was the Director of Marketing at Strava, found herself choking down gluten-free beers with her teammates, but this quickly lost its appeal. The beers were so bad, she’d often pack up immediately after her cool down and drive home.

Without the social and reward component of the weekly track session Caitlin found her motivation decrease dramatically. “Drinking beer after workouts was a moment of bonding and celebration that I looked forward to,” she said. “When I could no longer drink beer because of my celiac disease that was all taken away.”

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Landesberg’s husband noticed the change in her spirit but didn’t let her wallow in it. “He signed me up for a home brew course and encouraged me to learn how to make my own gluten free beers,” she said.

At first, brewing did not come naturally. “They were not always the best beers, but they were mine.”

Landesberg sought out new methods to improve the taste and quality of her gluten-free beers. Through UC Davis she learned about a process that brewed beer via a traditional method but then remove the gluten post-fermentation allowing the body and taste to remain strikingly similar to a typical beer.

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It changed everything. Landesberg took a leap and shifted her career focus from the tech space to the booming world of craft beer in California.

In 2016, she founded Sufferfest. “I did this to drink beer, not start a business,” she said. “But then, I went all in.”

The San Francisco-based brewery has a running flair that can also be appreciated by hipsters and nutrition-savvy beer drinkers. The brews, which Landesberg develops based on the types of beers that motivate her to get through workouts, feature fun names like Epic Pilsner a nod to the classic Belgium style, Taper IPA with its hoppy punch and Summit Blonde which is crisp with citrus notes in colorful tall boy cans.

Sufferfest Beer
Sufferfest Beer

Landesberg is also a new Mom, and now with her arsenal of gluten-free creations in the cooler, she is motivated to get back in shape. “The race I have my sights set on again is Skyline to Sea 50k. I was training for this last year when I discovered I was pregnant and couldn't continue my training regimen. It’s been harder than ever to find time to run with an infant, but I'm getting there.”

If Caitlin has one key piece of advice for runners, it is to drink more (or at least keep drinking) beer. “My goal is to both change people’s perception of gluten-free beer, because it can actually taste amazing. Imbibing with friends is a celebratory part of training that provides motivation, camaraderie, and can even enhance recovery.”

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Want more beer? Who doesn't? We spoke with two breweries in Boston brewing up something special for the marathon