Penn Relays

On Friday we went to the Penn Relays. This is a huge three day track meet that Penn hosts every year. It's different from a normal meet in that they are all relay races which are way more exciting than a regular race. I don't know why but there is something about four people working together in one race that really ups the excitement. There are schools from all over (including Jamaica) and includes high schools, colleges and professional runners. There were even some Special Olympics runners. According to the Penn website, it is "the oldest and largest relay carnival".

We have wanted to go to this meet every year we have been here. Unfortunately, it's at possibly the worst time of year for Jason, the end when school gets crazy busy. Fortunately for this year, Jason's schedule is a little bit lighter and we were able to go. Plus, on Thursday and Friday Penn students get in free! I got in free too because I have a Penn spouse card. It's like being a student again without having to worry about all those pesky classes.

So we went on Friday afternoon. The weather was warm and sunny without being too hot (the really hot weather came on Saturday, 90 degrees!) and I managed to sneak in my water bottle without dumping it out. We weren't sure where we wanted to sit but decided on the shady side of the track. Even though it was on the far side from the finish line, it was totally worth it.

It was a little bit strange being at a meet where not only do I not know the runners but I don't even really know the teams. But I still managed to get excited when one runner overtook another or tried to but the one in front stayed in front. We got there at the end of the college women's 4x1500 (four people each run 1500 meters or about a mile). Then there were the 4x200s (men's and women's college) and some high school 4x100s. For the last ones we were sitting surrounded by people cheering for the runners and it got really exciting as people stood up and got all into it.

Anna seemed to have fun considering it took place during her nap and she has skipped her morning nap that day. Mostly she played on the bleachers and with the people sitting around us. I don't think she realized there was anything interesting on the track. I had fun but, as often happens with track meets, felt like I had been there a long time but hadn't seem much. There is a lot of down time between races and while they weren't wasting any time, there was still a fair amount of just sitting around.

We left sooner than I probably would have on my own but it was probably a good thing we did. Once we left, we rediscovered how exhausting it can be to just sit outside in the sun and heat. We were all just a little bit cranky until we got home, cooled down and had dinner.