The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word RELAY RACE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
R
E
L
A
Y
R
A
C
E
More clues leading to the result RELAY RACE
- Broadcast about to contain a cycle event
- Contest concerning amateur people
- Rarely failing, expert passing competition
- Republican nation includes English ballad in event
- Competition clearer by design
- Contest whose participants must get used to taking stick
- Baton charge put people down again
- The last runners try to be first in it
- Event rarely troubled the champion
- Back in the car, Yale reporter timed competition
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "event" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case event = relay race.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.