4 × 400 metres relay 4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, the first 500 metres is run in lanes. Start lines are thus staggered over a greater distance than in an individual 400 metres race; the runners then typically move to the inside of the track. Relay race runners typically carry a relay baton which they must transfer between teammates. Runners have a
All-weather running track today. In the mid-1960s Tartan tracks, surfaced with a product by 3M. The name "Tartan" is a trademark, but many have misused it as a genericized trademark. This process was the first to commercialize a polyurethane surface for running tracks, though originally conceived for horse racing. Many Tartan tracks were installed worldwide, including at many of the top Universities in the United States. Among that list was a Tartan track installed in the Estadio Olímpico Universitario, home of the 1968 Summer Olympics at Mexico City, which were the first global championships to use such a track. Olympic shot put champion