Penn Relays PR

A quick history lesson care of Wikipedia: The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.



With history and the prospect of a tech tee on our side, Lauren and I had no choice but to sign-up for the Penn Relay Distance Classic 5K and it's 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning start! This event kicks off the festival and though it was a very small field, it had a lot of collegiate and high school cross country teams competing in the team catgeory.

It was pretty neat to be out on the field/track of one the nation's oldest and most storied stadiums (Franklin Field), albeit way too early in the morning. After a few warm-up laps, IT band stretching for Lauren, and watching the Kid's Mile Fun Run, we headed over to watch the 20K race begin and prepare for our own start.

As I toed the starting line I found myself behind the Philadelphia University Men's Cross Country Team, well that is until their coach forced all of his girl's team to move from behind me to in front of me, lest some non-singlet wearing average joe slow these winged-footed athletes down. Lauren slotted in a couple people back of me and we waited out the start. Momentary waves of regret over little sleep and a few celebratory brews for a friend's birthday the night before were quickly washed away when I heard, "Runners, GO!"

The racers were out in a huge pack to start us off and I just settled in to begin a bit of an uphill and do my best to find some kind of pace/tempo. I was breathing pretty heavy early, but I've noticed that's pretty typical with all my workouts. It takes me a bit to convince myself that I can maintain a quick pace. Quick was right though as my watch showed around 6:07 through the first mile. I did my best to let the number pass by as a positive thing and then try to forget about it for fear that I'd convince myself I had started too fast

With the museum (our turn back point) looming in the distance I began trading back and forth with a few guys who seemed to be holding about the same pace. It's funny how you develop an unspoken rivalry or competition with those around you. An older guy in royal blue and a middle-aged guy in tan would prove to be my buddies for the remainder of the run.

I pushed it through the turn around just in time to see Lauren strutting beautifully the other way, and most importantly pain-free! This was an odd race though because the whole thing was really thinned out. Not so much packs of runners as a line of runners spaced out.

Mile two hit in a shade under 6:30, and I was happy to see I hadn't really fallen off too much despite the rolling little hills. I typically get a little distracted in mile 2, and it usually proves to be my slowest. Luckily, the rest of the way would be mostly downhill. Around the time I also decided to say 'morning' to all of the volunteers blocking off the cross streets. It's funny how a smile and distraction gave me a boost in speed, confidence, and relaxation.

We finally rounded our last major turn and I could see the stadium in the distance. I slowly began uping my speed and passed mr. royal blue, happily never seeing him pass me again. The final stretch was into the stadium and half-way around the track. I peeked at my watch as we entered and I realized that I was definitely going to break 20 (!) and that if I pushed it, maybe even 19:30 (!!). There were no rabbits to chase down ahead of me, just the clock ticking away.

After the final curve it was just me and the clock. I had 70-80 meters to go as the clock showed 19:17, :18, :19...GO TIME! :20, :21, :22, COME ON!, :23, :24, :25, ALMOST!, :26.....19:27 (6:15 pace)! Wow, how that happened I've no idea, but I'll take it!

I raced around to snap a shot of Lauren outside the stadium and then crossing the finish line. She totally knocked this one out of the park, fighting through knee pain and some crazy guy that made her show up to the race at 6:30 a.m. on a Sunday! We had an awesome breakfast (crepe with brie, walnuts, turkey, and honey) and then went off to celebrate and enjoy the rest of our day!