By Amber Williams amber@dmcityview.com
Drake Relays by the numbers
The Drake Relays tradition is returning to Des Moines this weekend, and officials
are expecting another great turnout this year. In 1924 the Drake Relays featured
only 39 events. This year there are 115 areas of competition. Like the timed
events and records each competitor tries to break, the Drake Relays tradition
can be broken down by the numbers:
1 — The Drake Relays "Pole Vault in the Mall" at the Jordan
Creek Town Center returns this year, and this is the first time women have
been included in the competition.
2 — Two new events were added this year — the high school boys'
800-meter race and high school girls' 4 X 200- meter relay.
3 — A trio of athletes headline the Men's High Jump Crown Act this
year — Dusty Jonas, Jim Dilling and Andra Manson — in the invitational
men's high jump at the 102nd Drake Relays. They will compete against
a talented field in the event beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 30 at
Drake Stadium.
4 — Four people per team will comprise 15 teams total at the Fake Relays,
sponsored by the Greater Des Moines Partnership's Young Professionals Connection
and the Drake Relays, which will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Court Avenue
Entertainment District where they compete in a relay race and "spoof" track
and field events.
5 — The Drake Relays "Pole Vault in the Mall" will involve
five teams comprised of one female and one male joining forces vying for
the championship based on the team's best combined finishing place of the
five pairs.
6 — For the sixth straight year, the Drake Relays will host a Friday
evening session beginning at 5:30 p.m. with the girls' high school preliminary
4 X 100-meter relay, concluded by finals in nine running events.
7 — The Saturday afternoon session will include seven field events
and feature 36 races. It kicks off at 12:30 p.m. with the men's triple jump,
which will kick off the Saturday afternoon session on April 30.
8 — The 8-kilometer and the half-marathon road races begin at 8 a.m.
on Saturday, April 30. The first session inside the stadium will also start
with the high school girls' shuttle hurdle relay preliminaries.
9 — At nine minutes after 3 p.m., Webster City native Jenny Barringer
Simpson, who has set records around the world, will return to Iowa for the
Drake Relays. Simpson is a two-time USA outdoor champion and three-time NCAA
champion. Barringer is the American record-holder in the steeplechase with
a time of 9:12.50, set in a fifth-place finish at the 2009 World Championships
in Berlin. She won the 2009 NCAA Championship at Drake Stadium in a collegiate-record
time of 9:29.12 for her second NCAA title.
10 — Finish-line photos of the Jim Duncan Invitationals, the Drake
Relays and the Boys/Girls State High School Track meet can be purchased for
$10 each by e-mailing drakefinishlinephotos@live.com.
11 — The tradition continues with the 11th annual distance carnival
at 4 p.m. today with finals in the nine running events. Then tomorrow, preliminary
heats in 10 races will start with high school girls' 100-meter hurdles at
8 a.m.
12 — The afternoon session, starting at 12:15 p.m. with the university
and college men's 4 X 1,600-meter relay, will include 12 final running events.
While the athletes who compete in the Relays possess far reaching talents
and deserve the limelight they attract, what about the "off-track" events
that occur as a neighborhood tradition?
For example, the annual Drake Relays On-The-Road 8-kilometer and half-marathon
races are celebrating their 43rd year. The race is a closing day event scheduled
for 8 a.m. on April 30. Both races will begin adjacent to the Drake Stadium
on Forest Avenue, and it ends near 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue next
to the Drake Fine Arts Building. CV
Caption: The 102nd Annual Drake Relays return to Drake Stadium April 28-30.
