Relays more than just track

This weekend, Penn's Franklin Field will transform itself into a Mecca for amateur and professional track and field athletes.

Amongst fans of the sport and those within the track and field community, the Penn Relays are said to rank second to only the Olympics in terms of competition.

But just like any major sporting event, the Penn Relays would not be complete without a consumer spectacle. For that reason, Lott Courts, 33rd and Walnut Streets and the Franklin Field parking lot will be overrun by a bazaar replete with street vendors, carnival events for children and other diversions for spectators.

"The life of the stadium is in itself a reflection of track and field and what it is," Penn women's track coach Tony Tenisci said. "And the rest is just a celebration of that."

But for what has grown to be an integral feature of the surrounding celebration -- the Carnival has been memorialized by its inclusion in the official name of the event "The Penn Relay Carnival" -- the spectacle itself had rather humble beginnings.

In the early days of the relays, the grand-scale "Carnival" was nothing more than an array of tents outside the main stadium.

At the inception of the event in 1895, the Penn campus -- vastly different from the collection of sprawling buildings in modern day -- found itself lacking a place for visiting teams to change into their uniforms. Schools, therefore, traveled with tents bearing their colors in hand and set them up along the periphery of Franklin Field.

To the uninformed observer, this looked like a carnival.

But while the tents disappeared after the erection of new University facilities, a new feature arose -- street vendors. According to Dave Johnson, Director of the Penn Relays, street vendors started setting up shop on 33rd street in the late 1960s.

Lacking a central regulating body during the 1960s, chaos was the hallmark of the early thoroughfare.

"It used to be that the vendors would start setting up on Sunday before the Relays," Johnson said. "And it would just be really crazy because nobody had a space and everyone would just be fighting for the best spot."

The mayhem would continue until soon the University and City of Philadelphia jointly stepped up their involvement in policing the vendors.

Today, street vendors need to apply for a permit from the City or request a space within the Carnival from the Penn Relays organizing body.

"That is far more controlled than it was at one time," Johnson said. "The University has become much more involved in its operation and organization than the last few years.

"It is much more manageable than it was."

Another development that made the area outside of Franklin Field more manageable was the introduction of the Penn Relays-run Carnival Village in the mid-1990s.

The Village includes the area inside the fenced perimeter of Franklin Field and also expands to the entire Franklin Field parking lot and Lott Courts, home to the Penn men's and women's tennis teams.

"We'd been trying to move to something along this concept of having something along the lines of a trade show," Johnson said. "Now that it is in place, it has helped many things. It is a much more relaxed atmosphere in the stadium.

"The stadium itself used to end at the outer gate. Now fans can go out and enjoy the Village too."

And fans have made the most of the new-look Carnival setup, according to Penn women's track coach Tony Tenisci.

"I have such wonderful feeling about the whole thing," Tenisci said. "The carnival itself and what it draws is just an event for humanity. It just embraces all levels of humanity -- from young to old from handicapped to elementary school children. It's just not a college thing."

But, it's not only the fans who have reaped the benefits of the Village. Track runners, like Penn senior mid-distance runner Jeraldine Cofie, have also have taken notice.

"When you past Hill [College House] it is a whole 'nother campus," Cofie said.

And Tenisci also can't seem to get enough of the Relays' Carnival -- especially the textiles.

"I always look for t-shirts that are totally original," Tenisci said. "I like to go early before they're all looked over.

"That's my sort of excitement. I send my shirts to all my friends that want them. That is what they want more than anything --a Penn Relays shirt."

But while Tenisci is certain to break open the vault for his friends, the Penn coach also keeps aside a few extra dollars for his own t-shirt.

And his Penn garb has allowed him to experience some of his more worthwhile moments while overseas.

"Besides buying for my friends, I also get one for myself," Tenisci said. "I have been in places around the world and worn something from Penn and people will stop me in Europe or Asia or Australia, and say 'Oh, Penn Relays.'

"And that is just a great testament to the Relays."

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