Distance Medley Relay

The distance medley relay (DMR) is an athletic event in which four athletes compete as part of a relay. With its inclusion in the IAAF World Relays program, the IAAF announced on May 1, 2015 that the event would be an official world record event.

Unlike most track relays, each member of the team runs a different distance. A distance medley relay is made up of a 1200 meter leg (three laps on a standard 400 meter track), a 400 meter leg (one lap), an 800 meter leg (two laps), and a 1600 meter leg (four laps) in that order. The total distance run is 4000 meters, or nearly 2.5 miles. Aside from the 400 meter segment, which is a sprint, all legs are a middle distance run. Prior to going metric, the distance medley relay consisted of a 440 yard leg, an 880 yard leg, a 1320 yard leg and a one mile leg. The total distance for the old distance medley relay was 4400 yards and the total distance for the current metric distance medley relay is 4374.45 yards - slightly over 25 yards shorter than the old race.

The United States currently holds the pending world record in the men's DMR with a time of 9:15.50, set on May 3, 2015. This was set during the 2015 IAAF World Relays at Thomas Robinson Stadium, located in Nassau, Bahamas. The team consisted of Kyle Merber 2:53.56 (1200m), Brycen Spratling 45.95 (400m), Brandon Johnson 1:44.75 (800m), and Ben Blankenship 3:51.24 (1600m). They shaved off 0.06s from Kenya's previous world record time set in 2006.

The Kenyan team of 2006 ran the DMR in 9:15.56, currently the second fastest time ever run. At the time of the IAAF announcement of world record status, this mark became the ratified world record.Elkanah Angwenyi in 2:50.8 (1,200 meters), Thomas Musembi in 45.8 (400), Alfred Yego in 1:46.2 (800) and Alex Kipchirchir in 3:52.8 (1,600). This mark was set on April 29, 2006, at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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