Run for the team: An analysis of effort gains in track and field relays

•Effort gains in competitive track and field relays indicate validity and generalizability of prior findings from swimming.•Effort gains in track and field relays are in accordance with the Collective Effort Model.•Athletes’ objective performance increases in relays are partly mirrored by subjectively experienced effort gains.•Findings emphasize the need to account for specific context characteristics to predict effort gains.