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Insports,racing is acompetition ofspeed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount oftime. Typically this involvestraversing somedistance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goal.
A race may be run continuously to finish or may be made up of several segments called heats,stages or legs. A heat is usually run over the same course at different times. A stage is a shorter section of a much longer course or atime trial.
Early records of races are evident onpottery fromancient Greece, which depicted running men vying for first place. Achariot race is described inHomer'sIliad.
The wordrace comes from aNorse word.[1] This Norse word arrived inFrance during the invading ofNormandy and gave the wordraz which means "swift water" inBrittany, as in amill race; it can be found in "Pointe du Raz" (the most western point of France, in Brittany), and "raz-de-marée" (tsunami). The word race to mean a "contest of speed" was first recorded in the 1510s.[2]
A race and its name are often associated with the place of origin, the means of transport and the distance of the race. As a couple of examples, see theDakar Rally or theAthens Marathon.
Running a distance is the most basic form of racing, but races may also be done byclimbing,swimming,walking, or other types ofhuman locomotion. Races may beconducted with animals such ascamels,dogs,horses,pigeons,pigs,snails, orturtles. They also may be done in vehicles such asaircraft,bicycles,boats,cars, ormotorcycles; or with another means of transport such asskates,skateboards,skis,sleds,snowboards, orwheelchair. In arelay race members of ateam take turns in racing parts of a circuit or performing a certain racing form.
Orienteering races add an additional task of using a map andcompass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain.
A race can also involve any other type of goal likeeating. A commonspeed eating challenge is ahot dog eating race, where contestants try to eat more hot dogs than the other racers.
Racing board games andracing video games are also competitions of speed.
Racing can also be done in more humoristic and entertaining ways such as theSausage Race, theRed Bull Trolley Grand Prix andwok racing. Racing can be entertained from around the world.
A sprint finish is a racing tactic used in many forms of racing where a competitor accelerates towards top speed in the final stages of a race. This tactic is mostly associated with long-distance forms ofrunning andcycling, which often feature large groups of competitors racing at a slower pace for much of the race – this sloweraerobic racing allows for the subsequentanaerobic activity required for sprinting.[3] The tactic relies upon keeping greaterenergy reserves than your opponent until the last part of the race in order to be able to reach the finish point first. It is the opposing tactic to keeping a steady optimal pace throughout a race to maximise yourenergy efficiency (seerunning economy).[4]
Intrack and field, distances from1500 metres upwards often feature sprint finishes. They can also be found incross country androad running events, even up to themarathon distance. A runner's ability to sprint at the end of a race is also known as their finishingkick.[5]Multisport races, such as thetriathlon, often haverunning as the final section and sprint finish tactics are applied as they are in running-only events.[6]
In cycling, sprint finishes are an integral part of the sport and are used in bothtrack cycling androad cycling.Cycling sprints are often highly tactical, particularly on the track, with cyclists occasionally coming to a near halt at points before reaching a high speed finish.[7] The longer track races such asscratch races often feature sprint finishes, as maintaining a steady pace within thepeloton allows opponents to conserve energy throughdrafting.[8][clarification needed]Road races are similar in this respect, in both shortcriterium races and long-distance races. Sprint tactics also form a major part ofpoints classifications in road events, wherecycling sprinters specialise in reaching an intermediate point first, thus gaining extra points and resulting prizes.[9][10]
Sprint finish tactics are also used inspeedskating,cross-country skiing,long-distance swimming,[11]horse racing and otheranimal racing sports.[12][13] The finishes of races which are outright sprinting events in themselves, such as the100 metres track race, are not normally referred to as sprint finishes, as all competitors are already sprinting by default (thus it is not a racing tactic).
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