Texas Relays

The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays are an annual track and field competition held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas serves as host for the event, held on either the first or second weekend of April.

Events are held in High School, College, University, and Invitational divisions.

In response to cold-weather conditions at the Kansas Relays, the Texas Relays was started as a men's-only competition in 1925 by University of Texas coach Clyde Littlefield and athletic director Theo Bellmont. The Relays were held at Memorial Stadium until Mike A. Myers Stadium was opened in 1999. The meet was not held 1932-1934 as a result of The Great Depression. Women's events were added in 1963.

To encourage attendance in the early years of the event, various publicity stunts were staged. The most successful was a 1927 stunt in which three Tarahumaras were invited to the Relays. These men were famed as runners who never stopped running. A race was staged between the men from San Antonio to Memorial Stadium. After 14 hours and 53 minutes, the 89 mile race ended in a tie.

In 1977, electronic timing was introduced at the Relays, and Olympic gold medalist and Texas Longhorns football player John Wesley Jones recorded a time of 9.85 seconds in the 100 meter dash. This would have set a world record, but it was determined that the timer malfunctioned, and the time was unofficial.

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