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Easter weekend marked the 80th running of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, an event held each spring on the University of Texas campus in Austin. The meet began as a small, men-only competition in 1925 but has grown to include not only college and university men but also collegiate women, as well as male and female high school athletes, and an invitational division for Olympic-caliber athletes. Today, the event is recognized worldwide as one of the largest and most prestigious track and field meets of its kind.
The Texas Relays were established by Clyde Littlefield, who was the head track and field coach for UT at the time of the meet’s inception, and Theo Bellmont, who served as UT’s athletic director from 1913 to 1952. The contributions of both men to collegiate athletics were legendary long before the founding of the Relays. Littlefield had been the most successful track and field coach in the country since the beginning of his tenure at Texas. Bellmont served a major role in the founding of the Southwest Conference in 1915 and was the driving force behind the establishment of the rivalry between the University of Texas and Texas A&M. Together, the two men built a track and field phenomenon that would transcend the sport.
In the third running of the Relays, Littlefield and Bellmont invited the Tarahumara Indian tribe of Mexico to participate in a special race. Known for their endurance and ability to run long distances, three tribe members raced each other barefoot on gravel roads all the way from San Antonio to Memorial Stadium in Austin, the home of the Texas Relays for over 70 years. The 89-mile race lasted almost 15 hours and resulted in a tie.
The myth and prestige of the Texas Relays grew so much that legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne traveled to Austin two years later to serve as referee for the meet.
Now, eight decades after the initial running, the Relays continue to attract the best high school, college, and Olympic athletes in the country. The event’s history and mystique is not lost on the participants, nor the spectators.
A group of John Tyler High School supporters noted that winning at the Texas Relays is the ultimate accomplishment for a high school track and field athlete. “It’s bigger than winning state,” said one parent, whose daughter ran in the 4 x 200 meter relay. “The history and tradition of the Texas Relays make this a dream come true for our kids,” she said. “They’d rather win this meet than any other meet that they participate in all year.”
That sentiment would please the Relays’ founders, whose greatest visions were not to create one of the world’s most renowned track and field meets but to forever change the lives of those who dared to compete in it.
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