Gathered at the starting line, Austinites and Longhorns — past and present — fill Zilker Park with anticipation, tennis shoes and relay batons.
Zilker Relays, a 10-mile race with teams of four runners, will host its annual race in Zilker Park on at 6 p.m. on Friday. The relay, run by the Austin Runners Club, will donate all proceeds to its beneficiary, the Marathon Kids Program. According to the Austin Runners website, this program aims to get kids moving while positively impacting their mental health. Cameron Nguyen, class of 2021, said he enjoys Zilker Relays because it proves a staple to the Austin experience.
“Zilker Relays is the heart and soul of the local running community,” Nguyen said. “It encompasses what is local and true to Austin. … It really just brings together everybody who loves running and finds joy in (it).”
Marathon Kids co-CEO Chris McClung said Zilker Relays provides a fun way to kick off the fall racing season with a festival home base, drinks and music for all ages.
“I’ve actually done the race personally about 13 times,” McClung , class of 2005 said. “Some people are out there racing, and some people are out there just doing it for fun, but (after) it’s a big party in Zilker Park … People just drink, hang out and enjoy the community after they’ve had a nice, hard run.”
Joshua Moore, treasurer of Texas Running Club, said his organization starts the semester with this race annually. Moore said he watches the number of runners at Zilker Relays grow each time.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking when you’re there because there’s so many people,” mathematics senior Moore said. “A lot of people go crazy fast, and that was my mentality behind it … just haul (yourself) as (far) as you can till the end and then hand off to the next person.”
McClung said the preparation for Zilker Relays entails year-round planning. He anticipates this year to break the record of most racers. Last year 360 teams participated, McClung said.
“We’re expecting about 450 teams … might end up being more than that … so we’re expecting a great turnout,” McClung said. “If we hit that number, this will be the biggest Zilker Relays ever.”
Moore said with thousands of runners, some prepare for the relay beforehand, while others enter without having practiced. He said the difficulty of this race depends on how much each runner pushes themself.
“The effort you put into the race is what you’re going to get out of it,” Moore said. “Some people are going to come in prepared, but there’s also some people who haven’t been running as often … It’s kinda interesting to see everyone’s dynamic plans before this race.”
From pre-race jitters to eager chatter at the starting line, Moore said this relay encompasses camaraderie all around and encourages beginners to step out of their comfort zone.
“You just got to go for it,” Moore said. “You can’t be held back by this fear of ‘Oh my god, I’m gonna do bad at this race,’ because how can you know you’re gonna do bad if you’ve never done it before?”
