EDITORIAL: Don't walk, run to the Relays

The 103rd Penn Relay Carnival starts today and all Penn students should make time to attend the events over the next three days. The 103rd Penn Relay Carnival starts today and all Penn students should make time to attend the events over the next three days. The 103rd Running of the Penn Relay Carnival will be like none other. This year's Relays features competitors from 814 high schools, 271 colleges and several Olympic development teams, not to mention novelty acts like the Philadelphia area mascots race, or the personalities of people like Bill Cosby and Spike Lee, who showed up last year. In total, 17,000 representatives from nine nations will be in West Philadelphia to compete in this world-class event. It is a chance to see Franklin Field with more people packing the stands than one can imagine -- attendance topped 86,000 people last year and that number is expected to grow. About 50,000 people showed up on Saturday -- just 8,000 shy of capacity. The United States' gold medal-winning women's 4x400-meter relay team will compete. So will Leroy Burrell in the 100-meter dash, Olympic gold medalist Allen Johnson in the hurdles and America's best middle distance runner, Mary Decker-Slaney. Penn Relays and American records are expected to be challenged, as newcomer Oklahoma University is expected to run the 4x400 relay in three minutes flat and John Muir High School is expected to break the mark in the 4x400 high school Championship of America. But who competes is just a fragment of the Penn Relays. Watching 50,000 people standing up and cheering to see every race come to a close gives you goose bumps. The sheer number of people bearing Jamaican flags is enough to get you to cheer on the American teams. Watching pole vaulters clear 19 feet is astonishing. And seeing the smiles on the faces of the victors is heartwarming. The Penn Relays. There is nothing like it. Go and see it.