High School Track and Field

I love track and field. My son is on his school team and I have been attending all his track meets for the past four years. I love the cameraderie in the stands with the other parents and grandparents. I cheer for all the kids on the team, not just my son, and I even have a few favorites on the teams we regularly compete against. Don't tell my son.
My favorite event is the 4x400m relay. My son runs it but that's not the reason I love it. There is something special about this last race of the day. Many of the spectators have already departed so the faithful gather at the fence near the finish line. Staying for the last race is for the hardy. Sometimes the weather is cold, sometimes it's raining. Sometimes the sun has already set and the kids are running under the lights. Sometimes it is cold AND raining AND dark. All the other events are done and the teams often gather at the far curve to cheer their teammates on. As I heard a sports commenter say, "Everyone remembers the last race of the meet."
The 4x4 is different than the other relays. Everyone starts and ends at the same place. They do this in the 4x800m relay too but that race doesn't have the speed. With two laps for each runner, it isn't as exciting. The 4x100m has the runners ending their leg at the four corners of the field and the 4x200m runners end in two different places and both these shorter races are hard to follow because of the stagger start. It is hard to tell who is ahead until the final hand-off. But the 4x4 runners all and begin in the same place. They are there to cheer each other on as they start and call them home as they near the hand-off and they are all there to congratulate each other if they win and console each other if they lose. None of the runners have other events in which to compete now, all they have to do is cool down which they do as a team. Everyone else is packing up and heading for the bus but the 4x4ers are jogging around the field, cooling down, savoring their victory, and bonding as a team.
The parents and friends pack up and drive home, often happy for cars with working heaters. We'll talk about the meet with our kids later. We'll remember the 4x400m, the last, and best, race of the meet.