New Brunswick's Buccleuch Park will play host to New Jersey's most unique road race of the year, the Road Relays, this Sunday at 11:00am.  

Here's how it works.  Partners select from thirteen categories (open, youth, high school, college, masters, costume, sibling, parent/child, Greek, Rutgers alumni) and come up with a team name.  Yours may not be as fantasic as some of this year's pre-registered teams ("Kenya Catch Us", "We Got the Runs", "Lost in Pace"), but hopefully you'll come up with something catchy.

From there, you show up to the big pavilion, grab a baton, and it's go time!  You and your partner take turns running legs of 1.55 miles each (or 2.5k), and after four legs, or 10k, you are done!  Every leg requires running two loops: the "gold loop" and the "black loop."  Be sure to look good while you're running, as your efforts will be captured by professional photographer Will Schneekloth; here are last year's pictures.

Each category medals thee teams deep in three divisions: male, female, and co-ed....so hopefully, after the race, you'll win some bling.  After the awards ceremony, it's off to Mike's Courtside Bar and Grill, one of the race sponsors, for the after-party.  Other race sponsors include the New Jersey Marathon, ING Partners, Hole in the Wall Bagels, RRCA Grand Prix, and Road Runner Sports.

Early packet pick-up is available at the RRS store in North Brunswick on Friday (5-7pm) and Saturday (10-1).  Road Relay participants get an extra 10% all purchases that day, and they can also enter a raffle for a $250 spending spree! 

Taking a quick look at the 122 teams pre-registered, it appears that the record books will be completely rewritten.  In the open division, look for a battle between the teams of Ken Goglas/Steve Mennitt and Chris Heibell/Tony Harris.  In the open women, look for a close race between Erin Higgins/Sarah Peterson and Meghan DeCarlo/Sarah Schillaci.  The co-ed open should also be a epic duel between "Pink Dynamite" (Kyle Price/Alyssa Douma) and "Thunder Buddies" (Greta Sieve/Peter Bolgert).  The college open race should also bring some drama, as the Princeton Running Club (Danny Ebanks/Daniel Lewis) will square off against the Rutgers Running Club (Zak Martins/Robert Klink) to renew a century's long rivalry between the two schools.

On-line registration is now closed, but teams can still register the day of the race- but are encouraged to get there before 10:00am to ensure a spot, as batons are limited!