Bring your BRF to Bristol for our new RELAY option

We are so excited to announce that we are adding a 2-person relay option for the Independence Rhode Race! We know that this race has historically had some humidity and that for some, humidity and a half marathon does not make for the most fun race conditions. It does cause some hurdles to joining us for this holiday classic that kicks off the 4th of July Celebration in Bristol. By splitting the distance, not only is the event more accessible for more runners, but it adds a fun new team-atmosphere to the race! Here are some details:

The half marathon distance will not quite be an even split as the relay exchange will be at the Roger Williams University Aid Station. This means the first member of the team will run approximately 7.5 miles and the anchor leg will run the remaining 5.6 miles. We will provide each team with ONE BIB and a race belt as the exchange tool (each team can keep the race belt! See picture below). The first team member will attach the bib to the race belt and clip it around your waist. At the exchange point, you unclip the race belt and hand it to your teammate, bib still attached, and they will clip it around their waist for the remaining distance. This will make for a fast and easy exchange. It will be important to protect that bib from pick up to finish as that will have your timing chip on it.

We will provide one finisher medal with your bib at pick up, presumably for the lead runner. The anchor leg runner will receive their medal at the finish line.

Each team will have to coordinate transportation at the RWU parking lot as we will not have shuttles going back and forth. We would recommend dropping your teammate at the start and driving one car to RWU (there is PLENTY of parking in this lot). You will have access to the RaceJoy app so you can track your teammate via GPS if they carry their phone, which we also recommend as then you will know exactly when to expect them and where they are on the course. After the exchange (presumably of bib and car keys!), the lead runner will drive the car back to the finish (or home – totally up to you, their work is done and they have their medal!). We also suggest that you give yourself a few minutes in advance of your runner to get to RSU as you do have to cross the course to get to the parking lot, so please be careful of the runners as they pass that parking lot entrance. Here is an interactive map that shows the course, start and finish and relay exchange point as well as the RWU parking lot.

When you register, select the relay option and create your team. The first teammate to register will pay the entry fee. When your second person registers for that team, and it will discount their entry fee to $0. We are hoping you can work the details of the entry fee amongst yourself via Venmo, etc. This will save on processing fees that would occur with 2 separate transactions.

We will have Awards for Teams based on these categories: Top All Male team, Top All Female team and Top Co-Ed/Open team.

This is a new option for us so we ask for a bit of patience in this first year as we work out the logistics. As always, we appreciate your feedback and suggestions. We hope you enjoy this fun new option at the Independence Rhode Race and will consider joining us with your “Best Running Friend!”