| History of the Red Eye Relay |
| The Red Eye Relay is one of the craziest running events you will ever experience. We have an extremely high percentage or returning teams. So what’s the history of this race?Local race organizers Jamie and Jason Feagans came up with the idea to run a 200 mile relay running event that went from Evansville, IN to Bloomington, IN. The race began with high expectations and modest participation in 2004 after hundreds of hours of planning for more than a year. Participation grew until the final year of the Hoosier 200 in 2006 when the Feagans decided that a local event might prove to be much more manageable.In 2007 the Red Eye Relay was born. Interest and participation was immediately strong even though the “Killer H’s” of southern Indiana in July awaited – heat, humidity and hills. Surprisingly the first year produced unusually low temperatures which caught many runners off guard and scrambling for more layers in the middle of the night. But 2008 did not disappoint with temperatures hovering around 90 degrees in the afternoon on Saturday while dipping into the 70’s that night.
In January 2009, the Feagans approached one of the more enthusiastic teams that participated in both Red
Eye Relays. Team Brilliant was known for their unorthodox training regime, hydration techniques, and for being directionally challenged. (We were the ones with the intoxicated stuffed frog on top of our vehicle.) Jamie and Jason had decided that family life (4 young children) needed more attention and asked Team Brilliant to take over race management.
Popularity in running relays is continuing to experience tremendous growth and the Red Eye is no different. In 2009 the Red Eye had 37 teams and jumped to 61 teams in 2010. A sellout of 75 teams is expected this year so make sure to register early to reserve your spot in our history. |
| Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 February 2011 20:12 |
