The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the writer and do not reflect the views of University School of Nashville or the Peabody Press.
12. Coming in last place, the 3200m, or 2 mile race. A mystery to sprinters, but a familiar race for long-distance runners. This race is the second to last event of a typical high school track meet, and is 8 brutal laps around the track. It’s often run late at night after most spectators have left. Though the extra 15-20 minutes provides a break for people not running in the 3200, it is probably the loneliest race that is run at a track meet. That’s why it’s great when teammates and spectators stay to cheer on the athletes in their final few laps!
11. Second to last, the 100m hurdles. I’ve never ran this race, though I am a hurdler when it comes to longer distances. 10 hurdles spread out across 100m by a little under 30 feet. Impossible, many say, but the secret to it is training. If you don’t put in the work, it’s easy to trip up, stutter, and even wipe out. Not only are you sprinting a quarter of a lap with hurdles in the way, but you have an audience directly beside you waiting for you to fail. That is what makes this race especially difficult – finding the motivation to run fast and jump as the audience watches intently.
10. Placing 10th out of 12 events, the 400m race. Cruel, vicious, and heartbreaking. A “prolonged sprint” as many call it. The event that separates true sprinters from mid-distance runners. The race where you are either a pro or a loser. Either way, I’ve never heard anyone say they like this race. It takes an unbelievable amount of effort to run a quarter of a mile (one lap of the track) as fast as you are able. You are being watched, cheered on, yelled at, and paced throughout the duration of the lap, and anything can happen once you reach that final stretch. Although this race is exciting and gets the crowd pumped, I always leave it feeling completely drained.
9. Next, the 4x400m relay! Relays are always more fun than individual events, which is why this places above the open 400m. However, this relay is the very last event of every meet, and sometimes coaches and athletes are so exhausted that they scratch, or cancel, their relays so everyone can go home. On the occasion that they don’t, however, they are often scrambling to find a teammate (or sometimes even a coach!) that can run one of their relay legs. Everything turns out fine in the end, but I wouldn’t call the race itself to be one of the most fun. Many audience members and even teammates will have left, understandably, so there isn’t much of a cheer squad. And, as I mentioned before, the 400 itself isn’t a fun race, especially not when it’s cold outside, you’re carrying a baton, and you’ve already ran other events earlier in the meet. The team is really what makes or breaks this race.
8. In 8th place, the 200m race. Half a lap. Double the torture. A full out sprint. If you aren’t fast enough to keep up with the leaders of the race, it’s extremely easy to fall behind, and there isn’t enough time to make it up (races are generally under 30 seconds). Even though I’ve never run this race, I see the fear, pain, and relief in my sprinter friends’ eyes before, during, and after they run.
7. The 100m race comes in 7th place. I don’t have especially nasty feelings for this race, I’ve just never truly experienced what it’s like to sprint full-out alongside competitors in a meet for one hundred meters. Additionally, anyone watching can see how winded all the finishers look, whether they were first or last place. As the shortest sprint, it receives a lot of attention from everyone simply because of how fast the runners look and how close a lot of the finishes are – oftentimes, race officials have to evaluate a photo finish to see who actually crossed the line first!
5-6. Next, I’m grouping the 4x100m and 4x200m relays together in 6th and 5th place. The only reason these races place higher than the open 100m and 200m races is because they are team races, which makes it much more fun. The pressure isn’t all on one person, but the whole team takes that pressure together, each making up an essential leg of the overall race. Otherwise, they are still painful races in and of themselves, and not ones that I would prioritize running!
4. Placing 4th, the 300m hurdles. This might be the most controversial of my rankings because when most people see hurdles, they deem it an impossible race performed by experts only. However, I would disagree. I started hurdling freshman year and I had never done it before, but I caught on quickly. All it takes is practice – and lots of it. Once you get the form down, working on speed is the only other part. If you have the right coach, anyone can master hurdles – or at least complete a 300m hurdles race!
3. 3rd place: the 1600m run. This is the second longest track event after the 2 mile. It is a popular choice among cross-country runners because it’s a nice round distance: 1 mile, 1600 meters, 4 laps around the track. It’s relatively simple to run, to pace, and to finish. As long as you start out strong on the first lap, hold the second lap, press the third, and give everything you have left on the last lap, you’ll have run a great race. Personally, though it can be exhausting and feels like it will never end, it is still one of my favorites. The feeling of crossing the finish line after (hopefully!) six minutes of running is unbeatable. Nothing can top that.
2. 2nd: 800m. A brutal mix of speed and endurance. Two laps around the track. Sometimes I dread this race because I know it is going to hurt, and it always does. It’s right in that mid-distance range, but it is difficult to pace because of the amount of sprinting one has to do. However, this is one of my favorite races for many reasons. First, it isn’t too long, and although I usually end it feeling pretty exhausted, I recover with plenty of time to check my times and go for a cool down run. Second, this is the race where, to use my track coach’s metaphor, you choose whether to “flip the switch” or not. Usually, in the middle of the second lap, a runner can either give in to the pain, coast to the finish, and most likely not achieve a personal record time, or they can vote to push. They can “flip the switch on”, push harder, and dig deeper, realizing that it might only be a 200m AUG (all you got!) standing between them and a new PR.
I always feel accomplished when, at the most difficult part of the race, I am able to push myself in this way.
Finally, in 1st place, the 4x800m! For all the reasons listed previously, I find an 800m run to be one of the best track events. One of the main reasons that the 4x800m places above the open 800 in my ranking is because the former is a relay, so you get the experience of warming up and running with your teammates! This makes it much more enjoyable. Additionally, another reason is that the 4x800m race is the first event in a typical track meet. Though that might be nerve-wracking for some, I find it to be a great way to shake out before individual events that come later in the meet. Overall, this is simply a fun race to run with teammates, and to have spectators cheering along the way makes it that much more enjoyable!
