The 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 (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

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

Drake Relays The Drake Relays is an outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa, in Drake Stadium (Drake University), Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. Billed as ''America's Athletic Classic'', it is regarded as one ...

, Desert Conference Relays,

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,

Penn Relays The Penn Relays (officially The Penn Relay 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 ...

, Texas Relays, Akron Relays, Alabama Relay, Appalachian Conference Relay, Florida Relays (Gainesville), Knoxville Relay, Long Beach Relay, Ohio Relays, Santa Barbara Relay, So Cal Relays (at College of the Desert), 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 and 2021 competition. In 2024 it was included at the Croatian Relay Championships.

Variations

High Hurdle Relay

The SHR is currently 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.

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 was used. On , 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. In April 1973, Edinboro State at the Akron Invitational Relays in

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

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broke the world best for this event. On ,

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

broke the 1973 record in the 4 x 440 yard shuttle hurdle relay in a meet against

Whittier College Whittier College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic-serving institution, Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of spring 2024, had 815 ...

and Pomona-Pitzer. On ,

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

broke Occidental College's record while defeating Skyline College. March 15, 1975 Occidental College took the record back. On , Mt Sac College broke the record at the Mt. SAC Relays, and on ,

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

broke the record at the Mt. SAC Relays. By 1984,

Long Beach City College Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California, United States. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus (LAC) in Lakewood Village and the Trades, Technology, an ...

(Jose Davis, Tyrone McCullough, Nelson Rodríguez, and Oswaldo Zea) held the community college 1600 meter intermediate hurdle relay in 3:31.06.

History

The first recorded instance of a shuttle hurdle relay was probably in January 1901, when a "Hurdle relay race" was included at a meet in Portland, Oregon. No hurdle details were provided. In December 1906, a "hurdle relay race proved a highly exciting contest" at a meet in Vancouver, Canada. No hurdle details were provided. In January 1907 and November 1907, the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

in Kansas held an indoor "hurdle relay." In 1910–1911, the 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". On , a girls hurdle relay was held at the Armory in Rochester, New York. A November 1912 announcement for girls in New York announced that youth activities would include a "hurdle relay." In 1912, the American Physical Review magazine reports a boys SHR at a Dual Athletic Meet between Cambridge High and Latin School vs Rindge Technical School. In 1916, an indoor meet in Hawaii held a "300-yard hurdle relay race", which was won by the N.A.C. Club for the youth clubs, and

Kalihi Kalihi is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, United States. Split by Likelike Highway (Route 63), it is flanked by Liliha, Chinatown, and Downtown Honolulu to the east and Mapunapuna, Moanalua, and Salt Lake t ...

for the junior clubs. In May 1917, at the first annual girls' interscholastic meet on Tech Field in Pennsylvania, a "Hurdle relay" was competed, with Allegheny first, Peabody second, and Latimer third. No hurdle details were provided. In 1926, the SHR was added to the

events at the suggestion of David Burghley, the British champion of the 400 meter hurdles at the 1928 Olympic Games. In April 1938,

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

set a (then)

meet record in 1:01.6. In March 1953, in California, the SHR was included at the Orange Show Relay and the four-way spike meet (four colleges). In 1973, a

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

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 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 SMR was also included at former relays such as the California Relays, Compton Relays, West Coast Relays, 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, New York. Including a SHR outside of the US and the United Kingdom has been infrequent. In August 2007, the

BAUHAUS-galan BAUHAUS-galan, formerly known as DN-Galan is an annual, international Sport of athletics, athletics meeting that takes place at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. Previously it was one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix e ...

(formerly GN Galan) meet in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden included the 480 Yard Shuttle Hurdle Relay. The United States won with a time of 53.36 seconds, Sweden in second with a time of 57.03, Finland in third with a time of 57.26. The event was well received. The 1990 Penn Relay included a 880 shuttle hurdle relay.

The British Empire versus the USA

In 1920-1928, after the

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

, and

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

, the majority of the American track and field team crossed the British Channel to compete in a highly-publicized meet known as "The British Empire versus the U.S.A.", held at Stamford Bridge,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. This meet included the shuttle hurdle relay. In 1924 and 1928, the US won in 61.6 and 62 seconds for the 480 yards hurdle relay, respectively.

Oxford versus Cambridge

The

Oxford–Cambridge rivalry Oxford–Cambridge rivalry dates back to their founding in the 13th century, the oldest rivalry of any current universities in the world. During most of that time, they were the only two universities in England and Wales and two of the most prest ...

: Oxford versus Cambridge Inter-University competitions included 480 yards hurdles relay (1920 to 1930) and 880 yards low hurdles relay (1926 to 1930). 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.

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 – 4 × 110m

Updated November 2024