The first Penn Relays, held in 1895, drew what was at the time the largest track and field crowd in Philadelphia history -- 5,000 people.
In 2001, more than 49,000 spectators turned out on Saturday and nearly 110,000 during the three days combined -- and similar numbers are expected this year.
As the Penn Relays have expanded, the carnival -- adopted as part of the meet's name in 1910 -- has grown dramatically as well.
Indeed, what began as a nickname for visiting teams' tents set up alongside Franklin Field now consists of an array of vendors and carnival events.
But the original carnival atmosphere, which Penn women's track assistant coach Tony Tenisci described as "everybody [forming] a family that's married to track and field," still exists today.
"When you have an event for over 100 years, you don't get too many monumental changes," Penn Relays Director Dave Johnson said. "It's kind of like a creeping incrementalism."
The carnival takes place inside Franklin Field and Carnival Village, extending from the Franklin Field gate through the parking lot to the Lott Tennis Courts and onto nearby streets.
"Penn Relays is truly a human carnival -- it's a human celebration," Tenisci said. "It is by far the most human of all relay carnivals in the world."
Many consider the Penn Relays -- or more accurately, the Penn Relays Carnival -- to be the second most competitive track and field event worldwide, behind only the Olympics.
If the crowd is any indication, then the carnival's number two status seems to be accurate. More spectators have watched the meet than any other in the world, with the exception of the Olympics.
"The greatest thrill is seeing the little kindergartners -- you can see it in their eyes, they're all blown away," Tenisci said. "It's like the Olympics."
Still, despite frequent comparisons to the Olympics, the Penn Relays Carnival is unique.
"Where else can you be in a stadium that is packed with thousands of people who come to watch all levels of track and field?" Tenisci noted, referring to the high school, collegiate and professional athletes who participate. "Anywhere you look, it's a fantastic representation of how track and field touches all levels of life."
In addition to the variety of talent and age-levels competing in the relays, the event also hosts international athletes, a tradition that began in 1914 when Oxford University won the four-mile relay.
"All of the great collegiate and international teams come here because they know they're going to run wild," Tenisci said. "If you're anybody, you're here."
"This is the one, this is the granddaddy -- this is where it all began," Tenisci said. "Most of the models for the modern Olympics came out of this carnival."
"The one-by-one and four-by-four relays originated here," Tenisci added. "The model of how to conduct a track and field carnival came from Penn Relays."
This year, over 22,000 high school, collegiate and professional athletes will race before more than 100,000 spectators in the country's oldest two-tiered stadium.
Villanova coach Marcus O'Sullivan -- who has had spectacular moments at Penn Relays both as a runner in the mid-1980s and as coach -- explained that Penn Relays was one of the greatest experiences for any collegiate athlete.
"You can learn more in those one or two days than can in a lifetime," O'Sullivan said.
Tenisci recalled one former Penn Relays medal winner describing the award ceremony and the birth of his children as the two greatest moments in his life.
"The energy that's here is amazing," Tenisci said. "The noise, the Jamaicans screaming and yelling, all these people that come -- it's huge, it's such a human experience," Tenisci said.
"It's history."
