sprinting

Sprinting races can take place indoors or outdoors and the events range from 50 meters to 200 meters. In sprinting your start is everything. The faster and stronger the start, the bigger your advantage will be of winning. To be a good sprinter you need to develop muscles in all areas of your body, not just your legs like everyone assumes.  You need to be strong in your arms, core and legs to be successful at sprinting.  After the starter shoots the gun signaling the runners to go you need to come out of the blocks and drive all the way to the finish, making sure to pump your arms and push all the way to the finish.

hurdles

Many would say the hurdles portion of running events takes the most talent. To run hurdles you start from the blocks and take off, as you near the hurdles you whip the lead leg up and over the hurdle. As the lead leg skims over the hurdle the opposite hand stretches toward the foot of the lead leg as the trail leg is coming up over the hurdle. The hurdler then twists their hips and the lead leg drops down to the track as the trail leg snaps past the hurdle and down. Without a break in motion the hurdler sprints toward the next hurdle. Hurdling takes a lot of coordination, skill and hard work.

relays

The relays of Track and Field are about the only event involving teamwork. Relays consist of four runners that each run a certain distance and then pass the baton off to a teammate to continue the race. After three of the four runners have run there distance the third runner passes the baton off to the fourth runner to cross the finish line and finish the race.  There are many distances relays are run. Relay races range from 4x100 meters to 4x440 meters. To run relays runners need a lot of speed and stamina. On top of having speed and stamina runners need to be able to pass the baton smoothly and quickly.

middle distance

The middle distance events only consist of the quarter mile (400 meters) and the half mile (800 meters). Running middle distance you should have a short stride, land more on the balls or your feet and keep your arms relaxed. It is hard to come up with a technique for running middle distance because of the many body types.

long distance

To be a good distance runner you need a long stride and good stamina. You need to be able to push your hardest for a long period of time.  Long distance is usually anything longer then a half mile. To be a good distance runner you need to train your body very hard.