Shuttle hurdle relay (SHR) is a type of a

relay race A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, oriente ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

in which participants jump (sprint) over

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. The shuttle hurdle relay is contested at the

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Kansas Relays The Kansas Relays are a three-day track meet every April, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Since 1923, the Kansas Relays have attracted runners, throwers, and jumpers from all over the United States of America, bringing in a ...

Mt. SAC Relays The Mt. SAC Relays are an annual track and field festival held primarily at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the Mt. San Antonio College campus in Walnut, California. The Relays are held in mid-April each year since the first edition held on April 24-25, ...

Penn Relays The Penn Relays (also Penn Relays Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012, there were ...

Texas Relays The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays are an annual track and field competition held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas serves as host for the event, held on either the first or second weekend of April. Events are he ...

, Akron Relays, Alabama Relay, Appalachian Conference Relay, Florida Relays (Gainesville), Knoxville Relay, Long Beach Relay, Santa Barbara Relay, Tennessee Relays (formerly: Dogwood Relays, Sea Ray Relays), Towson Relays, and Tri-State Relays. The SHR was also included at the

2019 IAAF World Relays The 2019 IAAF World Relays was held in Yokohama, Japan from May 11 to May 12, 2019. Two new events were established for 2019, both mixed events: the relay and the shuttle hurdles relay. The first event replaced the relay that featured at previou ...

and 2021 competition.

High Hurdle Relay

Currently the SHR is referred to as the 4 x 60 Hurdles, 4 x 80 Hurdles, 4 x 100 Hurdles, and 4 x 110 Hurdles. In the past the term shuttle hurdle relay was more commonly used. This events allow four hurdlers to run on the same relay team and has been held both outdoor and indoor. In a shuttle hurdle relay, each of four hurdlers on a team runs the opposite direction from the preceding runner. The shuttle hurdle relay typically consists of: (a) four hurdlers per relay team – each runs one leg, (b) same sex, (c) each hurdler runs the same hurdle spacing and hurdle heights, (d) two lanes – one up, and one back (e) the first leg starts at the automatic timing line, hence this allows the anchor leg to finish at the "finish line", (f) hurdlers must stay in their own lane, (g) hurdlers are not allowed to touch the hurdles with their hands, (h) depending on the age-group there may be an "exchange zone" (Masters Track and Field does not use an exchange zone), (i) No batons are used for this particular relay, and (j) For Masters Track and Field the youngest person on the relay team dictates the age-bracket (for that particular relay team). USATF Competition Rules list description for the Open and Masters shuttle hurdle relay competition.

History

1910-1911: Official Handbook of the Girls' Branch of the Public Schools Athletic League states for the girls hurdle relay "the maximum distance for each runner not to exceed fifty yards; the maximum height for hurdles to be two feet". June 11, 1910 a girls hurdle relay was held at the Armory in Rochester, NY. 1920: Inter-varsity: Cambridge versus Oxford: Dec 1920: Oxford beat Cambridge in the SHR. Winning time of 67 2/5 seconds. December 1921 Oxford beat Cambridge in 69 4/5 seconds. December 1922 Oxford beat Cambridge in 67 2/5 seconds. 1924 and 1928 British Empire versus the USA in the SHR was held at Stamford Bridge, London. July 1924 USA beat British Empire in 61.6 seconds for the 480 yards hurdle relay. 1928: USA beating British Empire in 62 seconds. and. 1926 the SHR was added to the

events at the suggestion Lord Burghley (UK's Olympic hurdler). In April 1938,

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, ...

set a (then)

meet record in 1:01.6. March 1953 in California, the SHR was included at the Orange Show Relay and the four-way spike meet (four colleges). 1973 a West German team placed 3rd at the Mt Sac Relays in 59.1. Masters Track and Field have included the SHR as a standard event at the

USATF Masters Outdoor Championships The USATF Masters Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national championship for the United States for athletes in masters age groups. Organized by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for ...

. The competition is eligible for Masters American Records and medals. The oldest athlete that has competed in a SHR is George Roudebush (age 93) when he competed in a 2018 M80 plus SHR race. The oldest female athletes that have competed in a SHR are Tami Graf (age 85) at the 2021 and Flo Meiler (age 88) at the 2022 USATF Masters Outdoor Championships. The "high hurdles" are also referred to "sprint hurdles" to separate them from the "long hurdles." The Shuttle hurdle relay was also included at former relays such as the California Relays, Compton Relays,

West Coast Relays Started April 30, 1927, the West Coast Relays grew to one of the premier track and field events in the United States. Held in Fresno's Ratcliffe Stadium, it was the site of thirty-six world records and many national and collegiate records. It becam ...

, the 1996 Alabama Relays, and the Golden Valley Conference Relays Additional relays include the 1993 European Relays in Portsmouth, England, and July 5, 1981 TAC Relay Championship in Greenvale, NY. Including a SHR outside of the US and the United Kingdom has been infrequent. August 2007

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(formerly GN Galan) meet in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, Sweden included the 480 Yard Shuttle Hurdle Relay. USA 53.36 in 1st, Sweden 57.03 in 2nd, and Finland 57.26 in 3rd. The event was well received. The 1990 Penn Relay included a 880 shuttle hurdle relay.

Mile intermediate hurdle relay

In the past, a rarely run 4 x 440 yard shuttle hurdle relay was included at some competitions. A height of 36” tall hurdles is used. April 29, 1972 Olivett College (John McGlashen, Charles VanderRoest, Bruce Ritter, and Ron Hobday) beat Cedarville in 3:58.4 for the mile intermediate hurdle at the Tri-State Relays, held at Defiance College. Cedarville College (Cole, Alexander, Perkins, and Gruber) placing second took six seconds off their own school record. April 1973, Edinboro State at the Akron Invitational Relays, Akron, Ohio broke the record for this event. On April 6, 1974 Occidental College broke the 1973 record in the 4 x 440 yard shuttle hurdle relay in a meet against Whittier College and Pomona-Pitzer. April 17, 1974 Stanford broke Occidental College’s record while defeating Skyline College. March 15, 1975 Occidental College gained the record back. April 24, 1976 Mt Sac College broke the record at the Mt. SAC Relays, and on April 23, 1977 Pasadena broke the record at the

. By 1984, Long Beach City College (Jose Davis, Tyrone McCullough, Nelson Rodriguez, and Oswaldo Zea) held the community college 1600 meter intermediate hurdle relay in 3:31.06.Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, February 24, 199

Retrieved Oct. 17, 2020

All-time top 20

Men - 4 × 110m

Updated November 2020 y = adjusted from the slightly shorter distance of 4 x 120 yards by adding 0.13 seconds

Women - 4 × 100m

Mixed

Updated August 2021

Reference: The Hurdler's Bible

00. The Hurdler's Bible 2 by Wilbur L. Ross and Norma Hernandez de Ross, PH.D. Copyrighted 1966, 1978, and 1997.

References

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Events in track and field American male hurdlers American female hurdlers