It's April, meaning it's not only time for the Final Four, the opening days of baseball, The Masters and the beginning of the NBA Playoffs, but also relays season across the U.S. This is the month when the famous Penn Relays are held along with the long-established trifecta of the Texas Relays, Kansas Relays and Drake Relays.
The Kansas version was founded in 1923 by John Outland, then head football coach at the University of Kansas. (Yes, the same Outland whose name is on the annual trophy for the best college football lineman.) Outland got the idea from the Penn Relays, which remain the oldest and largest track meet in the U.S. He approached none other than Kansas basketball coach Phog Allen, who also served as athletics director, and the two combined to make the Kansas Relays a reality.
I was a regular attendee of the Kansas Relays in the 1970s when Kansas track was a perennial national championship contender for both indoor and outdoor titles. I saw Jim Ryun run a 3:54 mile during his sophomore season at KU, witnessed Ryun's numerous victories in various relay events, and also saw other Jayhawk notables like Karl Salb, George Byers, Nolan Cromwell, Jan Johnson, and many others compete. Olympians like Maurice Green and Marion Jones have stopped in Lawrence for the Relays, and the three-day event has provided a showcase for high schoolers, junior college athletes, and collegians to compete in a variety of individual and relay events.
The 88th edition of the Relays will take place this Thursday through Saturday in Kansas' Memorial Stadium. And, as is usually the case, I expect that rain drops will fall at some point during the festivities. You see, rain on the Relays is as much a tradition as the event itself.
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