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 x 110 m
Updated November 2024
Shuttle hurdle relay (SHR) is a type of a relay race in track and field in which participants jump (sprint) over hurdles. The shuttle hurdle relay is contested at the Drake Relays, Desert Conference Relays, [1] Kansas Relays, Mt. SAC Relays, Penn Relays, Texas Relays, Akron Relays, Alabama Relay, Appalachian Conference Relay, Florida Relays (Gainesville), Knoxville Relay, Long Beach Relay, Ohio Relays, [2] Santa Barbara Relay, So Cal Relays (at College of the Desert), [3] 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. [4] In 2024 was included at the Croatian Relay Championships.
Currently the SHR is 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. [5]
January 1901 a "Hurdle relay race" was included at a meet in Portland, Oregon. No hurdle details are provided. [6]
December 1906 a "hurdle relay race proved a highly exciting contest" at a meet in Vancouver, Canada. No hurdle details are provided. [7]
January 1907 and November 1907 the YMCA in Kansas held an indoor "hurdle relay." [8] [9]
1910–1911: 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". [10]
June 11, 1910 a girls hurdle relay was held at the Armory in Rochester, New York. [11]
1912 American Physical Review magazine reports a boys SHR at a Dual Athletic Meet between Cambridge High and Latin School vs Rindge Technical School. [12]
A November 1912 announcement for girls in New York - that youth activities would include a "hurdle relay." [13]
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 for the junior clubs. [14]
May 1917 at the first annual girls' interscholastic meet on Tech Field in Pennsylvania a "Hurdle relay" was competed, with Allegheny 1st, Peabody 2nd, and Latimer third. No hurdle details are provided. [15]
1924 and 1928 British Empire versus the US in the SHR was held at Stamford Bridge, London. July 1924 USA beat British Empire in 61.6 seconds for the 480 yards hurdle relay. [16] 1928: USA beating British Empire in 62 seconds. [17] and. [18]
1926 the SHR was added to the Penn Relays events at the suggestion Lord Burghley (UK's Olympic hurdler). [19]
In April 1938, Oklahoma State set a (then) Kansas Relays meet record in 1:01.6. [20]
March 1953 in California, the SHR was included at the Orange Show Relay and the four-way spike meet (four colleges). [21] [22]
1973 a West German team placed 3rd at the Mt Sac Relays in 59.1. [23]
Masters Track and Field have included the SHR as a standard event at the USATF Masters Outdoor Championships. [24] 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. [25]
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. [26] [27]
The "high hurdles" are also referred to "sprint hurdles" to separate them from the "long hurdles."
The Shuttle hurdle relay was also included at former relays such as the California Relays, Compton Relays, West Coast Relays, [28] the 1996 Alabama Relays, [29] and the Golden Valley Conference Relays [30] Additional relays include the 1993 European Relays in Portsmouth, England, [31] and July 5, 1981, TAC Relay Championship in Greenvale, New York. [32]
Including a SHR outside of the US and the United Kingdom has been infrequent. August 2007 BAUHAUS-galan (formerly GN Galan) meet in Stockholm, Sweden included the 480 Yard Shuttle Hurdle Relay. USA 53.36 in 1st, Sweden 57.03 in 2nd, and Finland 57.26 in 3rd. The event was well received. [33]
The 1990 Penn Relay included a 880 shuttle hurdle relay. [34]
Oxford–Cambridge rivalry: Oxford versus Cambridge Inter-University competitions included 480 yards hurdles relay (1920 to 1930) and 880 yards low hurdles relay (1926 to 1930). [35]
1920: Inter-varsity: Cambridge versus Oxford: Dec 1920: Oxford beat Cambridge in the SHR. Winning time of 67 2/5 seconds. [36] December 1921 Oxford beat Cambridge in 69 4/5 seconds. [37] December 1922 Oxford beat Cambridge in 67 2/5 seconds. [38]
In the past, a rarely run 4 x 440 yard shuttle hurdle relay was included at some competitions. A height of 36" tall hurdles is used. April 29, 1972 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. [39] Cedarville College (Cole, Alexander, Perkins, and Gruber) placing second took six seconds off their own school record. [40]
April 1973, Edinboro State at the Akron Invitational Relays, Akron, Ohio broke the record for this event. [41] On April 6, 1974, Occidental College broke the 1973 record in the 4 x 440 yard shuttle hurdle relay in a meet against Whittier College and Pomona-Pitzer. [42] April 17, 1974 Stanford broke Occidental College's record while defeating Skyline College. [43] March 15, 1975 Occidental College gained the record back. [44] April 24, 1976 Mt Sac College broke the record at the Mt. SAC Relays, [45] and on April 23, 1977, Pasadena broke the record at the Mt. SAC Relays. [46] By 1984, Long Beach City College (Jose Davis, Tyrone McCullough, Nelson Rodríguez, and Oswaldo Zea) held the community college 1600 meter intermediate hurdle relay in 3:31.06. [47]
Updated November 2020
y = adjusted from the slightly shorter distance of 4 x 120 yards by adding 0.13 seconds
Updated November 2024
William Harrison "Bones" Dillard was an American track and field athlete, who is the only male in the history of the Olympic Games to win gold in both the 100 meter (sprints) and the 110 meter hurdles, making him the “World’s Fastest Man” in 1948 and the “World’s Fastest Hurdler” in 1952.
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, landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, the dominant step patterns are the 3-step for high hurdles, 7-step for low hurdles, and 15-step for intermediate hurdles. Hurdling is a highly specialized form of obstacle racing, and is part of the sport of athletics. In hurdling events, barriers known as hurdles are set at precisely measured heights and distances. Each athlete must pass over the hurdles; passing under or intentionally knocking over hurdles will result in disqualification.
IC4A Championships is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition served as the top level collegiate track and field meeting in the United States, prior to the establishment the National Collegiate Athletic Association's championships in 1921. The IC4A one of the oldest annual track meets in the United States. Currently, the Eastern College Athletic Conference serves as the administrative unit controlling the IC4A brand.
The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurdles of 42 inches (106.7 cm) in height are evenly spaced along a straight course of 110 metres. They are positioned so that they will fall over if bumped into by the runner. Fallen hurdles do not carry a fixed time penalty for the runners, but they have a significant pull-over weight which slows down the run. Like the 100 metres sprint, the 110 metres hurdles begins in the starting blocks.
Masters Athletics managed by World Masters Athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of 35 years of age and over organized by World Masters Athletics. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. Competitors are bracketed into five-year age groups. For international events the first age group is 35 to 39. Men as old as 105 and women in their 100s have competed in running, jumping and throwing events. Masters athletes are sometimes known as "veterans" and the European Masters Championships, for instance, is known as "Eurovets". This and other high level events including biennial World Championships cater largely to elite-level athletes, but many masters athletes are novices to athletics and enjoy the camaraderie offered by masters competition at the local, National and International level. Most National governing bodies for track and field hold annual Masters championships. Prestigious National meets such as the Penn Relays and the United States Olympic Trials put on exhibition events for top masters athletes. Masters athletics is growing Internationally with over 6000 athletes competing at recent World Championships. World; National and Regional records are maintained for each age group.
David Oliver, is the Director of Track & Field at Howard University and a retired American hurdling athlete. As a professional athlete, he competed in the 110 meter hurdles event outdoor and the 60 meter hurdles event indoors. He is the former 110 meter hurdles champion winning the gold medal at the World Championships in Moscow in 2013 with a time of 13 seconds. He won the bronze medal in the 2008 Olympic Games and won another bronze at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Aries Merritt is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 110 metre hurdles, and currently holds the world record in that event with a time of 12.80 s set on September 7, 2012. He won the gold medal in the 110 metre hurdles at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Olympics, World Athletics Championships, Pan American Games, NACAC Championships, or an IAAF Continental Cup, the championships serve as a way of selecting the best athletes for those competitions.
Brenda Taylor is an American track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 meter hurdles. She reached the final of the event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She also competed at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and won a medal at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 4×400-meter relay.
Jeshua Anderson is a retired American sprinter, who specializes in the 400 meter hurdles. He is a 3 time NCAA champion in the 400m hurdles and was the second freshman from Washington State University to ever win the NCAA title. In 2008 Anderson was 400 meter hurdles Junior World Champion and holds the second fastest high school time recorded in the 300m hurdles. He was born and raised in Woodland Hills, California and attended Taft High School. After winning the 2011 Outdoor Championships, Anderson had the competed for team USA at the world championships. He also participated in the 2016 Olympic trials in which he finished as a finalist.
The Modesto Relays, now known as the California Invitational Relays is an annual elite track and field meet. It is held about the second weekend in May. For 67 years, the meet was held at Modesto Junior College in Modesto, California, a track notable for tight turns and long straightaways, ending in 2008. During its run in Modesto, it was the site of over 30 world records. After taking the 2009 season off, the meet moved to Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College in Sacramento, California.
Tom Moore was a National Track and Field Hall of Fame track and field promoter, known for his decades of service as meet director of the Modesto Relays.
Ryan Wilson is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 110 meters hurdles. He is a previous national champion after winning at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and the current national silver medal holder at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He was the 2003 NCAA champion in the event and won four hurdles titles in the Pacific-10 Conference. He was the bronze medalist at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final and was the runner-up at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. His personal best time of 13.02 seconds, set in 2007 at the Reebok Grand Prix, ranks him within the top twenty fastest of all time in the event.
Tony M. Brown Jr. is an American professional football cornerback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2018.
Stanley Grant Holloway is an American professional hurdler and sprinter. He is a three-time world champion, 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist in the 110 meters hurdles and the second-fastest man in history at the event with a personal best of 12.81 seconds, set at the U.S. Olympic Trials on June 26, 2021. In the 60 meters hurdles, Holloway is the 2022 Belgrade and 2024 Glasgow World Indoor champion and the world indoor record holder with a time of 7.27 seconds set at the 2024 USA Track & Field Indoor Championships.
The first Masters Southern California Track and Field Championships was held on June 1, 1974, at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton. Masters class Track and Field had officially started in 1968 in nearby San Diego. Since its first annual meet, the Masters Southern California Track and Field Championships has been held every successive year except 2020, when the meet was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the years, the meet has been organized under a succession of organizations: the Southern California Association of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), The Athletics Congress (TAC), and currently USA Track and Field (USATF).
The USATF Masters Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national championship for the United States for athletes in masters age groups. Organized by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport, the competition was first held in 1968. Athletes compete in 5-year age groups, beginning from 25 and up to 105. Traditionally limited to athletes over 35, a "pre-masters" group was introduced in 2020 to encourage post-collegiate athletes over 25 to continue competing.
The USATF Masters Indoor Championships is an annual track and field competition which serves as the national indoor championship for the United States for athletes in masters age groups. Organized by USA Track & Field, the national governing body for the sport, the competition was first held in 1975. Athletes compete in 5-year age groups, beginning from 25 and up to 105. Traditionally limited to athletes over 35, a "pre-masters" group was introduced from 2020 onwards to encourage post-collegiate athletes over 25 to continue competing.
David Kendziera is an American Olympic athlete who runs the 400m hurdles and 110m hurdles.
Track and Field News and USATF websites include current shuttle hurdle relay American Records for the following:
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