DES MOINES, Iowa — Students at Drake University are prepping for one of the university's biggest events — the Drake Relays.
Students finished up their work filling in squares on the university's painted street Sunday. It's the informal kickoff to Relays season, but students have been looking ahead for quite a while.
"Students are getting excited all year. I mean, I think we all have the anticipation in the fall of waiting for relays. But the best way to prepare for realize is to get your homework done, you know, a few weeks early and just start rallying," said Patrick Lucas, a junior at Drake.
The actual track and field portion of the Drake Relays kicks off on
Wednesday, April 26, but students said there's plenty of other campus traditions to keep them occupied in the meantime.
"My favorite part of relay season is the Beautiful Bulldog Contest, where all the bulldogs come in. Last year I worked at it. I got to pet all the Bulldogs, and that was amazing. Seeing them all dressed up walking across the stage, that was the best part," said sophomore Megan Johnson.
YouTube Shorts: Drake Relays kick off with 55th annual road races #shorts
And students say that events like that do a lot to help everyone get into the spirit of the season.
"It really brings campus together. I've seen a lot of people that I don't normally see on campus, so it kind of creates a campus unity that we don't get any other time of the year," Johnson added.
And that connection has only gotten stronger with time. Lucas told Local 5 that when he started at Drake, it was hard to escape the impact of COVID-19 on his campus experience. Now, that's not the case.
"I saw double or triple the amount of people I saw at road races this year than I saw last year. Just the sheer quantity of people being out and just enjoying each other and fresh air, it's much different than what it was like during COVID. So a lot better," Lucas said.