Short Route, Guarded Route: Relay With Sentries

A team relay with two routes to the finish: the long detour is safe, and the short cut runs through a zone with sentries who can tag you and send you back. Each runner chooses a route based on their speed and what they see.

How to play

1. Setup: a U-shaped outbound course of cones (about a 40 m detour) and a 15 m shortcut through the middle with two sentries in pinnies (3 min).
2. Practice round: everyone runs each route once to feel the difference (4 min).
3. Relay: four teams, baton in hand; anyone tagged in the shortcut goes back to its start and must take the detour (5 min).
4. Switch sentries and timeout: each team decides who takes which route (2 min).
5. Final relay with two sentries who can roam the whole shortcut (5 min).
6. Discussion: when was the risk worth it? (1 min).

Rules

• Sentries tag with a hand on the shoulder and don't block with their body.
• Pass the baton hand to hand, never thrown.
• Detour and shortcut don't cross: one-way flow marked with cones.
• Sentries rotate every relay so everyone runs.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: plays sentry with a pool noodle, or runs a shorter adapted detour.
• Visual impairment: runs the detour with a guide, and their leg counts double for the team.
• Less confident students: can always choose the detour, no questions asked.

Learning goals

• Weigh risk and reward in a quick decision.
• Keep up speed across repeated runs.
• Match team strategy to each person's abilities.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 24
• relay batons: 4
• pinnies: 4

Teacher tip

Make the detour two to three times the shortcut; any longer and nobody picks it. Common mistake: the sentry plants in the middle of the shortcut; ask them to move and not block.

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