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Reference.org
4 × 400 metres relay
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<p>The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics <a href="/facts/Track_and_field/UNg97aPX">track event</a> in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. The first leg and the first bend of the second leg are run in lanes. Start lines are thus staggered over a greater distance than in an individual <a href="/facts/400_metres/wekRY1gk">400 metres</a> race; the runners then typically move to the inside of the track. The slightly longer 4 × 440 yards relay, on an <a href="/facts/Imperial_units/XBpM6M1W">Imperial distance</a>, was a formerly run British Commonwealth and American event, until <a href="/facts/Metrication/ARyQzqSE">metrication</a> was completed in the 1970s. </p>