Bolt to run at Penn

While this is great news, it should not be so shocking. This should have happened last year.

I am a life long fan of The Penn Relays, but this amazing meet has been slipping up for years and hopefully the adding of Bolt is just the first step in the overall improvement of this meet.

Penn has started to become what the Boston Marathon was close to slipping into; an event that thought it's name and tradition would be enough carry it through.

Sure both events will always get the diehards (Boston qualifier seekers, Jamican high schoolers), but Boston has imporoved itself with spending more to get elite athletes, more prize money, etc. Penn has been silently slipping for years from being a major force in the sport the way Boston almost did.

Penn has been taking lumps for years, and doing little to fight it. It is rare to see big name midwest and west coast high school teams at Penn anymore (yes Penn can't pay for these teams to come, but these teams always find a way to make it east for track nationals, work with them). I was eating dinner with h.s coaches the other night that were suprised their athletes were accepted to Penn with what they perceived to be low marks. This will continue to become the norm, not the exception. They are running the risk of losing more west coast colleges with the addition of the Oregon Relays which were held on the same weekend last year. I hope Penn was pissed at their main sponsor Nike for also getting behind this meet last year. It is on a different weekend this year, but this meet will start to detract from Penn more and more.

The distance races have become laughable for more than a decade. Sure the old Stanford meets became qualifying fests, but with the addition of regional qualifying, Penn has not made any attempt to recruit better college runners. There is obviously no prize money, but Penn would benefit greatly by recruiting rabbits for the elite races to get bubble qualifiers for USATF a shot to not have to travel to the west coast all the time. Penn has enough contacts and resources that that should not be too hard. While the times are not record breaking, look to Princeton coach Steve Dolan who has been making a concerted effort for the last few years to put on good distance races at his meets only a few miles from Philadelphia.

Crowd control, etc. This is a tricky one cause not everything is in Penn's control. Major construction projects at Franklin Field and the surrounding area (South Street bridge) last year made the meet an absolute headache. However, many coaches felt that clear instructions on how to navigate the projects were lacking and frustrating to athletes and spectators alike. One result was half of the entire main grandstand being shut off. Franklin Field is an incredible venue, but was built a hundred years ago with the second tier being added in 1925 (give or take a few years). This does make it very difficult to handle the crowds, but Penn continues to employ bad planning and security personnel to deal with the situation. Yellow jacketed "Event Staff" personnel do not to proper frisks at any of the check-ins (I have benefited), do little to control the large crowds or get them moving in the hallways or concourses, seem unaware of what the proper procedures are for certain sitting areas, and are often absent minded. Most of these individuals are part-time employees who have never had to work a major event like this and are overmatched. Yet, Penn has not done anything to hire a new company or seeked outside help. The city has built two new stadiums in the last few years with some of the friendliest and helpful stadium staff in the country. Surely there is somebody Penn could talk to for ideas, and help in planning.

The infield: Clear it for God's sake! The only field events that take place there are the jumps! Yet on Saturday there are fans, the entire USA vs. the World teams with their own closed off pen, far too many agents, coaches, officials that don't need to be there, trainers meandering all over. If you are in the far turn you can't even find the starter during races, you have to hope to hear the gun or see people start moving real fast to know what it going on. The Penn staff does not place it self in the shoes of the average spectator and ignores these types of recommendations.

There is a saying, the only thing harder than getting good, is staying good. Penn was great, but is far from being a good meet right now. It is not living up to it's potential. Frank Dolson director of the Penn Relays Dave Johnson, please start listening.

... Or do the athletes just run for fun?

This really is a senseless post. The FACT is that more California schools have been to the Relays in the last five years than at any previous five-year increment. Looks like your premise just went up in smoke. You can't just lie your way through it.

He could take the baton from the first-leg runner, run the last 300m, and beat the USA.

Someone should set that up. I wonder if that's actually the fastest way any combination of runners can do a 400: two fewer accelerations, two fewer chances to screw up an exchange.

Or 2x200--Gay and Bolt?

Okay, I may be wrong on the high school numbers from California, but the rest of my points hold water. Also, it is not just the numbers, but the schools and the individuals. The only exception that comes to mind is Cal Poly's 4x4 with Bershon Nylum (I spelled that wrong I am sure), that was a great race.

I am up for a debate on making the relays better (and track and running in general). I am not one of those saying The Relays suck compared to other meets, it is still the best. But it can be better, our sport can be better. At times I feel like we rest on our laurels as a running community and are afraid to push ourselves to being a better organized sport. This site is a great tool and pushes the issues of organization, drugs in the sport, etc. But too often we run the risk on this message board of spending too much time bashing each other instead of working together (ugh, I sounded like a politician)

Stating the obvious wrote:

Not to sound stupid, but I didn't realize Penn relays paid appearance fees... do they? I know he ain't cheap but is he doing this pro bono for the sake of God, Country and smashing the WR?

They don't pay much.

If memory serves me right, Bolt has run at Penn every year since he was 16 except for the 1 or 2 years he was hurt.

Your memory is failing you.

I love PR. PR is the east coast's classic and it will remain that way forever. The Jamaican community rescued PR and fill 3/4 of the stands it seems. The stands are empty during the distance carnival.

Additional thoughts on this post - there is no doubt that the CSC Event Staff is a giant pain, but the university has a contract that is through Athletic Facilities/Operations which the Penn Relays office really can't control. I don't know when the contract is up - I hope Penn considers a different company.

Agree 100% that there are too many people on the infield - even as recently as the late 1990's field access had a much stricter policy.

Nevertheless, there have been a myriad of records recently in many different events - including the national HS 4x800 that was pretty insane. Considering the quality of the races over the last few years (with the exception of the rainy/cold year a few years back), the results have been pretty solid. I think that the comment that Penn Relays is resting on its laurels is a little overblown . . . .

If nothing more, the Penn Relays results work by Dipen Shah and Brett Hoover (pennrelaysonline.com) is excellent, dwarfing anything anyone else produces at any meet in the US. Results are virtually instantaneous with easy access to ranked lists, records, and finals qualifiers in a very readable format.

PR is a fantastic event! I've been taking a HS 4x4 team there for 20+ years. Each year I have hooked another group group of athletes on truly passionate track and field.

Yes, it is crowded, Franklin Field does lack the amenities of a modern stadium, parking is a bear, the mens room is a wall of water to piss on, the track is bizarre with confusing short inside lanes, but I have never been to a track meet where the fans are more knowledgeable or more enthusiastic.

When the announcers, mention the name of any Jamaican HS (Calabar, Wolmers, Vere Tech, etc) the roar is enormous. The good-natured "USA" / "Jamaica" chants merely add to the fun. The USA vs. The World concept is a bit "corny", but, by God, it is fun!

If you consider yourself a fan of track and have the remotest chance of getting to PR -- by all means go!

And contrary to other posts, I think the PR has gotten better. 20 years ago the numbers of fans was down. Last year the whole lower level was packed.

If the weather is good, with Bolt there and if Gay is there, I can see a Saturday sell out. Imagine a non-Olympic sold out track meet in a stadium of 70,000+ in the US. Wow!

Actually, he has missed 3 times in 8 years.