The Inside Story
By Kiara du Toit, Grade 10
The relays are the last races of the Athletics Challenge, and they are worth double points. With five schools close together on the log, the 4 x 100 m could decide the overall trophy, so our relay squads have turned baton changes into a science.
Every practice ends with changeovers in the 20 m zone. The outgoing runner marks a check line, waits for the incoming runner to hit it, and goes without looking back. The call is "Hand!" and the baton must arrive in an open palm at full speed. Our coaches time each change, and the best squads have shaved almost half a second off since January.
There is also a reserve in every team, because a pulled hamstring in the 200 m can change a relay line-up at 16:30. "Everyone in the squad must know every leg," says our relay coach. "Then nobody panics."
The relays start at 16:45. Stay for them: it is the loudest fifteen minutes of the year at our school, and our learners in uniform get in free.
