The Drake Relays and Track Guy speaker series holds its second edition on Thursday, January 30 at the Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery in Swisher at 6:15 p.m.  The series is hosted and organized by Mike Jay, the current voice of the Drake Relays and a founder of Track Guy, and features Blake Boldon, the Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays.    
 
"The first event had a fantastic crowd and the guests were well received," said Boldon. "We're really looking forward to the program on Thursday." The trio of well-known track and field guests in Swisher are Tim Dwight, Jessica Heims and Doug Lane. 
 
Dwight was an All-American at Iowa in football and track and field though he's widely known as a retired NFL wide receiver and special teams player for five different teams.  He was a 10-time Drake Relays champion for Iowa City High and Iowa, and a 12-time Iowa State High School track and field champion.  Dwight is widely remembered for his 94-yard touchdown return on a kickoff for the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII against the Denver Broncos.
 
A 2016 Paralympian in Rio de Janeiro, Heims is the current discus world record holder in the F64 classification (lower limb prosthetic) and a member of the Northern Iowa track & field team.  In August, she broke her own F64 discus world record at the 2019 ParaPan-Am games in Lima, Peru.  Heims is a 2017 graduate of Cedar Rapids Prairie High School and has been named to the 2020 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Team which will compete in the Toyko Olympics.
 
Lane is the only Iowa High School athlete to throw over 70 feet in the shot put (70-11).  He still holds the boys high school Drake Relays record of 67-2.25 set in 1968, one of the two oldest Drake Relays records still standing.  At USC, Lane was an NCAA indoor champion in the shot put, earning All-American honors in 1971 and 1972.  He held the USC school record of 66-11.25 (20.40m) until it was broken in 2007.  Lane, a Malibu, California resident, is a graduate of Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School.
 
Mark your calendar for the next edition of the Drake Relays and Track Guy speaker series on Feb. 5 in Sioux City at the Wheelhouse Bar and Grill at 6:15 p.m., Feb. 11 in Clive and March 21 in Dubuque.
 
The 111^th edition of the Drake Relays is April 22-25 with All-Session, All-American, Gold and Silver ticket packages on sale Jan. 30 and single session tickets on Feb. 19. 
 
The Track Guy organization uses proceeds from track and field themed apparel designed and printed in Iowa to give back to cross country and track and field communities by supporting Iowa's young athletes. Track Guy intends to generate funding for camps, clinics, coaching seminars, shoe drives and entry fees for road races.