The Drake Relays (officially the Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by

Mediacom Mediacom Communications Corporation is the United States' fifth largest cable television provider based on the number of video subscribers, and among the leading cable operators focused on serving smaller cities and towns. The company has a s ...

) is an outdoor track and field event held in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, in

Drake Stadium Drake Stadium may refer to: * Drake Stadium (1904), a defunct outdoor multiuse sports field at Drake University used from 1904 to 1925 * Drake Stadium (Drake University), an outdoor multiuse sports field at Drake University used from 1925 to present ...

on the campus of

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. His ...

. Billed as ''America's Athletic Classic'', it is regarded as one of the top track and field events in the United States. In 2020, the Drake Relays was named a Silver Level event on the World Athletics Continental Tour, one of only two competitions in the United States to earn Silver Level status.

History

The inaugural Drake Relays were held in 1910. The first meet drew just 100 spectators and 82 athletes, all from Des Moines-area colleges and high schools. The second year attendance grew to 250 athletes and a crowd of some 500 spectators. In 1914, the Relays saw its first world record set. By 1922, the Relays had expanded to two days and drew 10,000 fans, becoming the first major track and field event broadcast on radio. For the 1926 Relays, Drake Stadium was built on the site of the prior host, Haskins Field. Women's events were added beginning in 1961 with

Wilma Rudolph Wilma Glodean Rudolph (June 23, 1940 – November 12, 1994) was an American sprinter, who became a world-record-holding Olympic champion and international sports icon in track and field following her successes in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. ...

competing in the 100 meters. The 1966 Relays began a streak of 48 consecutive Saturdays with a sellout. In 1969, a $175,000

tartan track Tartan Track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. It lets athletes compete in bad weather without serious performance loss and improves their resu ...

was installed. The events at the Relays would go all-metric in 1976 and the track was rebuilt as a 400-meter oval in 1978. It was resurfaced in 1983, and in 1988 was renamed the "Jim Duncan Track" to honor the long time relays

public address A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

announcer. Hundreds of Olympic gold medalists have competed at Drake Stadium including Caitlyn Jenner, Michael Johnson,

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996 ...

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

Frank Shorter Frank Charles Shorter (born October 31, 1947) is an American former long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His Olympic success, along with the ac ...

Gwen Torrence Gwendolyn Lenna Torrence (born June 12, 1965) is a retired American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist. She was born in Decatur, Georgia. She attended Columbia High School and the University of Georgia. She was offered a scholarship because of ...

, and

Jeremy Wariner Jeremy Matthew Wariner (born January 31, 1984) is a retired American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals (three gold, one silver) and six World Championships medals. He is the fourth fastest competitor in ...

. Hundreds more Drake Relays competitors have gone onto compete in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, including 113 at the 2012 Olympic Games. In 2006, a Friday evening session was added. In 2010, the Grand Blue Mile, a one-mile road race in downtown Des Moines, was added. The week of festivities currently opens with a parade on Saturday, continues with a Beautiful Bulldog Contest (Drake's mascot) on Sunday, the Grand Blue Mile on Tuesday, and an indoor pole vault on Wednesday with the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

and

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

beginning Wednesday and concluding alongside the distance carnival on Thursday. Midwest grocer

Hy-Vee Hy-Vee, Inc. () is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets in the Midwestern and Southern United States, with more than 280 locations in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and soon Indiana, Kentucky, ...

became the presenting sponsor beginning in 2013, enabling the Relays to offer a $50,000 purse in running events and $25,000 purse in field events, making the Drake Relays the richest athletics event in the United States.

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

aired 90 minutes of live-action coverage that year and

ESPN3 ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications ...

aired an additional two hours. The 2013 field saw 25 Olympic medalists compete. Currently

NBCSN NBCSN was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated t ...

airs 2–3 hours of coverage on Saturday with live online coverage via NBCSports.com throughout the event. In January 2018 Drake Relays unveiled the Blue Standard, under which Iowa's top high school athletes automatically qualify based on their event performance. The Blue Standard is the top 25 percent of accepted entrant's results from past Drake Relays. In March 2020, Xtream powered by

was named the presenting sponsor of the Drake Relays. Xtream's sponsorship allows the Drake Relays to maintain its status as a premier track and field event, to be called the "Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom". In addition to the track meet, the Relays serves as a second

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

for the university and sees other community events such as student street painting and a downtown Des Moines block party.

Drake Stadium

Opened in 1925, the 14,557-seat stadium and its famous blue oval have hosted the Relays since 1926. A $15 million renovation in 2006 reduced capacity from 18,000 seats in order to expand the lanes, allow fans to watch throwing and running at the same time, and allow for more hosting of events. Another renovation following the 2016 relays saw a new track installed, constructed of the same material used for tracks in Beijing and London for the Summer Olympics.

Relays Directors

Eleven men have claimed the role of director of the Drake Relays since the very first officially organized track and field event took place more than 100 years ago back in the year 1910. *

John L. Griffith John Lorenzo Griffith (August 20, 1877 – December 7, 1944) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, track athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the first commissioner of the Big Ten Conference from ...

1910–1918
Griffith was the founder of the Drake Relays. He remained director for nine years and moved to the University of Illinois after World War I. He later became commissioner of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. Drake's live bulldog mascot, Griff, is named for him. *

M. B. Banks Mark Beal Banks (June 5, 1883 – January 12, 1970) was an American football, basketball and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Central University of Kentucky—now known as Centre ...

1919–1921
Banks also served as coach to the Drake football and basketball teams. * K. L. (Tug) Wilson 1922–1925
Wilson was a former Illinois and Olympic athlete. After his tenure as director, he went on to become athletic director at Northwestern University. Wilson was also a former Big Ten Conference commissioner. * O. M. (Ossie) Solem 1926–1932
Longtime Drake coach succeeded Wilson, later became head football coach at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

and

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

* F. P. (Pitch) Johnson 1933–1940 *M. E. (Bill) Easton 1941–1947 * Tom Deckard 1948–1955 *Bob Karnes 1956–1969 *Bob Ehrhart 1970–2000 *Mark Kostek 2001–2005 *Brian Brown 2006–2016
Brown participated in the relays himself and held the Drake Relays record in the high jump until 2014. For his first eight years as director, Brown had attempted to have his record broken by recruiting some of the best high jumpers in the country. *Blake Boldon 2017–present

Meet records

Men

Women

Mixed

Drake Relays Results

Future dates

*113th Drake Relays: April 26-29, 2023 *114th Drake Relays: April 24-27, 2024

Notes

References

External links

Drake Relays Official Website

Drake Relays Records

Drake Relays Hall of Fame Listing
{{US track and field competitions

Relays A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

Sports in Des Moines, Iowa Annual track and field meetings College track and field competitions in the United States Tourist attractions in Des Moines, Iowa Track and field in Iowa Track and field competitions in the United States