The Final Lap: April = Relay Meets

Most professional runners are competing in relay meets in April. This is the relay time of year on the U.S. pro sprint scene. These collegiate track meets primarily feature relay races with a limited number of individual events, so the relays make for some exciting performances from pro runners.

Relay meets have an open section for professional runners. No pro outdoor meets are held in the United States at the early stage of the outdoor season.

Running on relays allows pro athletes to evaluate their training and conditioning in a low stakes environment while having lots of fun. Relays races are one of the few chances to have a team experience in what is largely an individual sport.

The meet schedule for the next month is packed with collegiate relay meets such as the Texas Relays (April 2), Kansas Relays (April 16), Mt. Sac Relays (April 18), Drake Relays (April 24), and Penn Relays (April 24) to name a few.

• Fans at the 57th TSU Relays were witness to Jeremy “J Dub” Wariner’s 44.2 anchor leg this past Saturday on the mile relay at the Houston meet. This is an incredibly fast time considering observers report that J Dub shut it down 30 meters out.

• The heat was definitely showcased on the track in Miami . In the mile relay, Xavier “X Man” Carter lit up the first leg in 44.9 to officially begin his season. Running first leg on the mile relay is very similar to running an open 400-meters, which means X Man is in primo shape.

• The first fully pro meet on the Visa Championship Series is the Adidas Track Classic on May 18th.

By Jay Hicks, a.k.a. Track Evangelist