Not to be confused with the better known Longstreth Relays that have been run on our campus every spring for more than 50 years, the Hudson Relays were initiated by our counterpart institution in Cleveland, Case Western Reserve University, nearly 100 years ago.

After Western Reserve College left Hudson and moved to Cleveland in 1882, a visit to "the old campus" in Hudson became a tradition for the university's senior class. But in 1910, Monroe Curtis, a member of the university's junior class, had the idea of holding a competitive relay race and proposed that it be run from Hudson to Cleveland along a 27-mile route. Runners would be posted at one-mile intervals on the route, and each of the college classes would select at least 24 runners to run the course. The whole project involved members of all four college classes and advisors, and took many weeks to plan and organize. Curtis and his colleagues selected a route based on topographical maps, and then a "pilot" group in a "powerful car" drove from Cleveland to Hudson to confirm the route. In the spring of 1910, with WRA closed because of bankruptcy, only forlorn, empty buildings greeted the relay planners. They made contact with "an old graduate," Dr. William I. Chamberlain, and Hudson Mayor Hugh A. Sullivan.

Since there were no paved highways at the time, the roads became muddy and nearly impassable after a week of steady rain in early June. But by the day of the race, June 12, 1910, "a warm sun beams upon the muddy roads." Some 96 runners were conveyed to their posts, while the four class captains went to Hudson and took up their position on Chapel Street. Mayor Sullivan handed a letter addressed to University President Charles F. Thwing to senior class captain Ray Barney, then started the race promptly at 4:30 p.m. The sophomore class contingent had been diligently training for the race, and they easily prevailed, arriving in front of Adelbert Hall in Cleveland at 6:25 p.m., a full half hour before what had been anticipated.

A large reception on the lawn of the college followed, and a three-ton boulder, "the Hudson Relay Rock" was rolled into place. It would soon bear the name of the winning class, and in subsequent years, each victorious class would have its name etched on the boulder. Moses G. Watterson, who had graduated in 1860 when the college was still in Hudson, gave a talk about college life some 50 years before. It was duly noted that throngs of people had lined the route of the Hudson Relay and seemed to be "the voice of the people" urging the university to "make the Hudson Relay a yearly affair."

For more than 30 years thereafter, the Hudson Relay was run between the two campuses. It was briefly suspended during World War II, then successfully revived. The tradition of exchanging letters continued, but since WRA had reopened, our headmaster handed the letter to the class captains at the start of the race. Following another brief interval, the relay was revived again in 1972, and during the 150th anniversary of both Western Reserve Academy and Case Western University in 1976, Headmaster Henry P. Briggs sent the following message to be delivered by runners to Case President Louis A. Toepfer: "And may all of us work together for excellence, a better world, and an independent educational sector in which the concept of private initiative for the public good will remain more than an anachronism."

That same spring, WRA had its own special Sesquicentennial Marathon and invited 1936 Olympic Gold Medalist Jesse Owens to come to the campus to start the race. By 1982 the Hudson Relay was fielding more than 50 runners for each college class, and that year a separate contingent of WRA runners was added to the competition. Math teacher G. Shawn Dietrick was the coach for Reserve's relay team, and Marcel Gauthier '82, who had already been honored as WRA's top fall athlete, was one of our principal runners. As runners completed their leg of the route, a bus picked them up and transported them to the Case campus, where they were promised "a free lunch and beer." Headmaster Hunter M. Temple, however, had already warned the bartenders not to serve any WRA runners.

By 1990, because of the congestion and complexity of traffic between Hudson and Cleveland (and because of numerous complaints by irate drivers), it was decided to confine the Hudson Relay to a race through and around University Circle in Cleveland. The direct connection with Hudson was therefore severed, although the name survives. In April 2001, during WRA's 175th anniversary celebration, a special contingent of our students, faculty and alumni ran the former route from Chapel Street into University Circle. Headmaster Dr. Henry E. Flanagan Jr. had our students deliver a special anniversary message to the university president.

Next spring, when the Hudson Relay will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its inception, perhaps WRA could initiate a special race into Cleveland, or join with Case in reviving the old route between our respective schools. And yes, "the Rock" that was moved into place behind Adelbert Hall in 1910 is still the focal point as the terminus for this historic race.