Whats an approx. estimate of our potential given “good” hand offs?
Starter runs 11.3 in the 100, 2nd runner is 11.1-11.2, 3rd is 11.50, anchor is 11.9. All times into a very slight headwind btw (PBs).
Why not have your slowest guy run the (shortest) first leg?
Assuming that all times except the 11.50 are ht, a sub 44s 4x100 should be possible for these guys.
This is my team lol (im 3rd runner). Our coach did it this way, best starter runs 1st while best bend runner (which was me) runs 3rd and the fastest on our team runs 2nd and the method was to have as big a lead as possible coming onto the anchor leg. The order got us a championship record last year.
We already have done a 43.75:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhqUA7-jVkg
but I was more wondering how fast is the limit we could go based on our times, because the hand offs aren’t very good (baton slows down a bit) + we had a concrete track on a video vs. international track this week.
Any leg can be made to be the shortest, while the 2nd or 3rd legs can be made to be the longest.
Why not the anchor leg?
You can gain a maximum of 10m on each end of the 2nd or 3rd legs (but not both), if you push the exchange location and risk getting disqualified by not making the exchange. By the same measure, either the 2nd or 3rd legs have the potential to be the shortest as well. For the 1st and 4th legs, the length can only change by 10m.
1st: 90m to 110m
2nd: 80m to 120m
3rd: 80m to 120m
4th: 90m to 110m
Realistically, if you try to gain/lose more than 5m at any exchange zone, you risk running into problems getting the baton around. It’s much safer to extend the length of a relay leg at the start of it, rather than at the end of it, where, if you miss the pass the first time, you probably won’t get a second chance.