Relays

                In a track meet the athletes can either run in individual events or in relay events. Individual events end to have less pressure than relays because if you have a bad race that effects your performance it mainly only effects how you perform but if you are on a relay team and you have a bad race it effects how the whole relay team performs.

                I have had to run many more relay events this year than I have ran individual events. I am mainly a four hundred meter runner and have only really ran the open four this year, the four by four, the distance medley relay and the sprint medley relay. I find the relays to put much more pressure on me than the individual events.

                In individual events I still want to perform my best and try my hardest in order to be able to score some points in the meet for my team but it doesn’t put as much pressure on me as relays. In relays I still want to try hardest and score points in the meet for my team but if I have a bad race or mess up it effects my whole relay. In individual races if I mess up I can really only blame myself but in relays if I mess up or someone else messes up and we don’t place well people on your relay may blame you.

                If you run a bad leg in your relay it could also affect how the people after you run. If you hand off the baton in last it can be harder for the next person to compete with the other runners and run their best times if they are really far behind. It can also be pressuring if you are anchoring the relay because you don’t want to let your team own by having people pass you and finishing in a place lower than the one you were in when you got the handoff.

                A track meet has both individual events and relays. Both can be enjoyable to run in but relays can sometimes put more pressure on a runner because there are more people depending on you to run your best so your whole relay can succeed. (375)