22 For '22! Relay races
Just as USA Track & Field did at the Tokyo Olympics, you can assemble your own dream team for a relay race in the Triad.
Sure, your teammates might not be quite as fast as Sydney McLaughlin, Allyson Felix, Dalilah Muhammad and Athing Mu.
And for these races and their distances, it's going to take you a good bit longer than the mere three minutes and 16.85 seconds needed by that Fab Four to cover 1,600 meters.
But that's also what it's all about, spending a chunk of a morning or afternoon with some of your best running buddies and then crossing the finish line together.
You could start the year with the Gwyn's Grace 50K Relay at the Twin City Track Club's Frosty Fifty on Jan. 8 at Winston-Salem's Salem Lake.
Just five weeks later, Junction 311 Endurance Sports' St. Valentine's Massacre Marathon Relay on Feb. 13 is host to a festive tent village inside Country Park in Greensboro.
The Doggettville 12, normally held during the second half of September, is a showcase for not only the Doggetts' hospitality but a 1-mile loop that takes you through the Enchanted Forest and across the family farm in northern Guilford County.
Trivium Racing's Pilot Mountain to Hanging Rock trail run, from one state park to another on Oct. 1, will be a little easier to manage if you're part of the 50K relay race.
The Twin City Track Club has hosted the Black Friday 20K Relays on the day after Thanksgiving, and the Triple Lakes Trail Races, now owned by Trivium, also have had a relay component.