After all the excitement of the Penn Relays had ended and everyone had packed up and gone home, one relay was still going strong.
On Sunday night, the first Penn Relay for Life took place on Franklin Field, raising more than $1,000.
Sponsored by the Undergraduate Assembly and the Oracle Senior Honor Society, the event benefited the American Cancer Society.
Relays for Life are run by the American Cancer Society all over the United States throughout the year.
"We wanted to promote community service as an aspect of the school community," said event coordinator and Oracle Senior Honor Society member Anuj Varma.
Despite a late start, over 100 people walked or ran the event, with teams sent from numerous sororities, performance groups and school organizations.
The event was planned to last from 6 p.m. to midnight but ended early due to rain.
"We were just founded last year and were planning on doing a 5K on our own, but then this came up. ... It was just a matter of good timing," Varma said.
The organizers have been promoting the relay on Locust Walk for the past month.
"We started off organizing late," College senior Marika Maris said. "But pretty much everyone was aware of it."
"It was pretty laid back. ... The point is to have people running at the same time," Maris said.
Also featured were a disc jockey, arts and crafts for children and a performance by the Penny Loafers.
Undergraduate students from both Drexel University and Penn participated.
"So far, we have collected $1,000 and are still collecting," Maris said, citing Delta Delta Delta sorority as the biggest contributor.
Organizers and participants alike enjoyed the event and felt it was something that should continue in the future.
"It was a successful event. ... We accomplished a lot of goals today, and hopefully it will become an annual event," Varma said.
"It definitely has a lot of potential," participant and College senior Sandra Zalman said. "It's a great spring activity."
Zalman, who heard about the relay from a listserv, ran with a team from subRosa, a women's community group.
"As it was the inaugural year, I wanted to help out as much as possible," she said.
Although the organizers did not schedule their relay to purposely coincide with the annual Penn Relays, they considered the timing advantageous.
"It wasn't on purpose, but we thought it was good to play it off against the Penn Relays," Maris said.
"It was great to have the excitement that Penn Relays brought to Franklin Field," Varma added. "I feel like we had a good event."
