IJA Joggling Championships 2008 Finale

This post is continued from part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Joggling Relays

The final events of the IJA Joggling races were the relays. I was on a team with some of the fastest jogglers including Lenny Ferman, Chris Essick, and Jason Hollandsworth. We were poised to win both the 4×100 and the 4×400. Unfortunately, we had the second fastest time in the 4×100. We won our heat but another team ran faster in the first heat. Interestingly, our time (1:06) was the same time that I ran the 400 in alone. We certainly would’ve gone faster if racing against the fastest team. No matter, everyone ran a great race.

In the second relay, our team was inspired. We changed up the order so I was the last joggler. I like being the anchor because you know exactly how you have to run. If someone’s ahead, you go all-out to catch them. If everyone’s behind, you know exactly how much of a lead you have.  When my speedy teammates finally got me the juggling ball, we were well out in front. We finished 37 seconds ahead of the next closest team. It was a great effort.

How do you Joggle a Relay?

You might be wondering how relay joggling is done. Check out the video below to see a hand-off. Essentially, one joggler places their joggling ball in their partner’s hand. As long as the pass is made in the transition area, it’s a good exchange.  Chris said that in more formal joggling track events, the pass must be made in the air, juggling style.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSykTmi-yhE 425 300]

Joggling Wrap-up

The joggling competitions were loads of fun and I look forward to participating in next year’s events. I’ll certainly do all of the events next year and hope to fair better in the faster sprint races. Ideally, we’ll get more jogglers out there, especially women. Heather Marriott swept all of the woman’s division medals because she had no competition. There were a couple of younger girls who raced, but they weren’t in the same division. Heather is good though. She beat many of the boys!

The Masters division was particularly competitive with standout jogglers like Anders Kierulf, Andy Swan, Mike Monson, and Jack Hirschowitz taking home most of the medals.

We’re going to get interviews with a bunch of these jogglers, so look for those in the coming weeks.