by Lionel Brahim Brodie III
Welcome to Penn Relays Month! The Penn Relays Carnival is the biggest and oldest track and field competition our United States of America. Sponsored by Toyota and our friends at On, this year's event will be held from April 25 – April 27 at its annual location – the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
Penn Relays is my favorite!
In addition to the highly anticipated, limited–edition footwear, apparel, and accessories that align with Penn Relays, fans should also be excited about the event's recent ascension to World Athletics Continental Tour Silver status. Announced last month, this promotion makes The Penn Relays one of just five (5) Silver or Gold events in the United States.
According to Steve Dolan, who is both the Director of The Penn Relays and Director of both Men's and Women's Track & Field/Cross Country programs at UPenn, "The Penn Relays' partnership with On has been a key component in our ability to attract and host some of the best track & field athletes in the world over the last few years. Thanks to On's continued support, we are very pleased to announce that the 128th running of the Penn Relays will be elevated to Silver status on the World Athletics tour. Both the individual Olympic Development events and the Global Relays are sure to provide an incredible experience for the elite competitors and the spirited crowd in Franklin Field."
What does all of this mean? As a Silver status event, competing athletes will acquire more World Athletics points toward Olympic Games qualification and world ranking. It will also boost prize money offerings, and that will lead to more of our favorite athletes making Penn Relays a point of emphasis for their competition schedules.
According to the official website, for the 2024 Penn Relays, 12 elite events will make the move to Silver status:
M/W 400m
M/W 800m
Men's Mile
Women's 1,500m
M/W High Jump
M/W 4x100m Global Relays
M/W 4x400m Global Relays
Also noted on Penn Relays website: the recent addition of the Global Relays in partnership with World Athletics will be a part of the Continental Tour Silver status, bringing in teams from all over the world ahead of the World Relays in the Bahamas and the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
Are we hyped yet? Did I mention that Penn Relays is my favorite?!
Add to this the recently released Cloudrunner 2 and Cloudmonster Hyper and we're feeling as if On is about to have a BIG month! Stay tuned for more Penn Relays content.....and we look forward to seeing you at our University City location and retail booth at Penn Relays this month – the only places ON EARTH, other than our online shop, carrying that aforementioned, highly anticipated, limited–edition footwear, apparel, and accessories.