At the Penn Relays, crowds will fill Franklin Field to see some of the world's best athletes compete.
But while the world-renowned greats rest up before their competition, the next generation of stars will take to the track and compete in front of crowds of the same magnitude.
The college and high school events will provide just as much excitement as those of the professionals, being that the best athletes at these levels will travel from all over the world to compete at the relays.
The majority of the high schools making the trek to the Penn Relays this year are from the northeastern United States, but the pool of schools also includes those from such exotic locations as Jamaica and the Bahamas.
Among the male teams competing this weekend's distance medley relay is powerhouse John Jay-East Fishkill High from New York, which will be looking to defend its title against opponents that have come close in the recent past.
Banking on anchor Hakon Devrie's time of 4:08, John Jay was recently victorious at the National Scholastic Indoor Championship. Close behind was local school Cardinal O'Hara, which finished only a second behind the winning team.
Also bound to finish near the top this weekend is New York's record-setting Shenendehowa, which currently holds the indoor national high school record in the 4xMile relay.
Camden High is another northeastern school that has recently shattered records. At February's Eastern States, its 4x200-meter relay team completed the race in just 1:26.90 to become the first team ever to break the 1:27 mark indoors.
Camden High will face one of the fastest teams in the country, the Bronx's Dewitt Clinton High School. After dominating the recent indoor season, Dewitt Clinton hopes to be the first New York City team to win the 4x400m at the Penn Relays since 1972.
Sure to give Clinton a challenge are the equally strong teams from Jamaica and California.
The Jamaican Wolmer's Boys and Saint Jago schools have both recently come out on top at other recent competitions, with times that compare to that of American squads.
How all of these schools fare against one another in the relay events will be determined by the collective efforts of their relay teams.
But there will also be a number of athletes who will fare for themselves in the individual events of the Penn Relays.
One competitor who stands out is the country's leading pole vaulter, Andrew Rademacher.
Rademacher hails from Heritage, Pa., where he has been working hard to improve his performance from last year's.
In 2003, he cleared 15 feet, 1 1/2 inches, but since then he has cleared an outstanding 16 feet 8 incheson his way to winning the Nike Indoor Classic in March.
Even with that under his belt, Rademacher will not have an easy time coming out on top again. His opponents boast similar accolades and will pose a threat to the favorite.
On the girl's side of competition, much of the spotlight will be on the girl's High School Athlete of the Year, Devon Williams.
Only a freshman, Williams will be making her debut at Penn Relays running the mile. This winter, she ran it in 4:50.76, a few seconds less than her top opponents.
One of these challengers, Frances Koons, will be representing the local population, as she comes from Central Catholic High School in Allentown, Pa.
Another athlete looking to capture a victory for the host city is last year's runner-up in the 400m hurdles, Nicole Leach from West Catholic High.
Since last year, Leach's time has dropped a whopping seven seconds down to 52.19, which is considerably better than her chief contenders' times.
With times of 58.22 and 58.65 seconds respectively, Jamaican champion Sherene Pinnock and Trishana McGowan will have to turn it up a notch to beat Leach.
In the girl's field events, the high jump will be a toss-up, as three athletes have career bests which all fall in the same area.
A victory for Latoya Darren would be particularly memorable, being that she is one of the first Bermudans to compete in the relays since 1991.
On the other hand, Jamaica has long been a staple at the relays and has fared very well in the past.
Last year's runner-up in the long jump was Petagaye Beckford from Holmwood Tech. She will return again this year with hopes of outjumping the current national indoor high school record-holder, Shana Woods, from Long Beach Poly High School.
The competition will no doubt be exciting, with so many of the world's best high school athletes in one place.
Maybe one day they will return as simply the world's best.
