The Penn Relays - one of Track’s greatest events
The Penn Relays, hosted annually by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States.
Aaron Robison joined The Penn Relays as Associate Director in December 2021. On the eve of his third Penn Relays, he chatted with us about the history of this special event and how huge crowds gather to watch young talent make a first impression on the famously fast track at Franklin Field.
On his family’s impressive roots in track and field
I've been involved in track and field my entire life. My grandfather (Clarence Robison) ran on the London 1948 US Olympic team and had a track and field coaching career at Brigham Young University (BYU) that spanned from 1948 until 1988. My father (Mark Robison) followed in his footsteps and has been coaching collegiate track and field at BYU since 1985. There are six kids in my family, five boys and a girl, and all track athletes.
I coached high school for five years then got my graduate degree. I worked at the Armory in New York City, the indoor track and field center in upper Manhattan. And then about a year and a half ago I was hired by the University of Pennsylvania as the associate director of the Penn Relays.
On what makes the Penn Relays special
The Penn Relays are unique with high school, college, and pro teams. It’s quite an undertaking each year, but it's very exciting.
It’s been held since 1895, the only break was in 2020 and 2021, due to Covid. At the high school end, we have 13,000 to 14,000 athletes. And for college we have 2,000 to 3,000 athletes.
The pro event has some of the world's finest athletes, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Athing Mu and Devon Allen were headliners in 2022 and Devon Allen is back for 2023.
Penn Relays is a kind of the high school world championships, with teams from the States, Jamaica, Trinidad, and the Bahamas. And this year we have teams from South Africa, Canada, and Puerto Rico too.
“Over the three days we average over 100,000 fans, with Saturday being the biggest day where we average 45,000 to 55,000 people. So, on a global scale, it’s up there with just about any event.”
On the importance of the event
It’s the most attended track and field event in the world outside of the Olympic Games and the World Championships.
Over the three days we average over 100,000 fans, with Saturday being the biggest day where we average 45,000 to 55,000 people. So, on a global scale, it's up there with just about any event. And for most people who compete at the Penn Relays, it'll be the largest event in which they ever compete.
We focus on the overall Penn Relays experience; we want to give athletes and fans a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s more than just what happens on the track as well. The Penn Relays’ official name is the Penn Relay Carnival, and it lives up to its name. A full-blown track and field carnival takes place in the city of Philadelphia around Franklin Field and its adjacent fields where there are all sorts of vendors, music, and DJs.
You bring in different people and cultures and fun and excitement with that energy. For many of the Jamaican kids coming here, it's the first time they've left Jamaica; their first taste of the United States; their first taste of cold spring weather in the Northeast and it really opens their eyes to what the world of US track and field looks like.
On Penn Relays as a pathway
If you go back into the late 1970s Merlene Ottey was the first one to really blaze that trail. She was first recognized at the Penn Relays by the University of Nebraska; she signed with them and went on to be one of the most decorated collegiate athletes and then went on to a very long, illustrious international career.
Some of the high-school athletes become the best in the world. You see the emergence of athletes like Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson, who ran at the Penn Relays while at high school.
And so it's always been a launchpad for fans to see these young athletes firsthand before they go onto World Championship and Olympic dominance.
On what makes Franklin Field such an iconic venue
Franklin Field has been the site of the Penn Relays since its initial year in 1895. In the beginning it was a large wood structure until 1922, when the concrete lower bowl was constructed, holding nearly 50,000 seats. The upper deck was added in 1925 and Franklin Field looks much the same now as it did 100 years ago.
So, today when athletes are running here, it’s as if they are competing against previous generations.
On what he looks for in a track
Rekortan has been the track since 1988. To have a fast track, there's a lot of things that go into it. From a physics standpoint, the width of the track is important: how far is it from one straight to the other straight.
Franklin Field has quirky dimensions. Lane four is 400m all the way around, and so lanes one, two, and three are only used for relays and the 400m. The track was historically a six-lane track, and when they expanded to nine, they couldn't go on the outside because there's a brick wall that goes all the way around, so they went on the inside. This makes it a very wide track and that leads to very fast times.
“In 2023 with Rekortan, we have a very fast surface that can dry quickly or stay relatively dry if there’s rain. Combine that with the width of the track and it makes it very fast. ”
The introduction of synthetic tracks gave a consistency to track surfaces. This made people run significantly faster and allowed also for shoes with smaller spikes. Now in 2023 with Rekortan, we have a very fast surface that can dry quickly or stay relatively dry if there’s rain. Combine that with the width of the track and it makes it very fast.
The final component is top-level competition; be it the high school 4 x 100m or 4 x 400m, or some of the college records, many are the fastest ever run in the US.
On memorable races at Franklin Field
In 2022 there were some magnificent performances. Due to the Covid break, most of the athletes that ran at the Penn Relays at the high school level last year had never run at the Penn relays before. We had several record-breaking performances.
Specifically, there was Edwin Allen High School from Jamaica, which broke a historic record, in the High School Girls 4 x 100m (43.18), running fast enough to win the College Women’s 4 x 100m.
In 2010 both Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt were here with Team Jamaica running the 4 x 100m Men’s Relay in 37.90 seconds, which is the 19th fastest time ever in this event. Needless to say, Franklin Field, with 54,310 fans watching the race, was bursting with noise and excitement.