A Philadelphia staple, the Penn Relay Carnival is one of the oldest and longest-running track and field events in the world. The 2009 running marks the 115th year of the Relays and will take place April 23-25 at the historic Franklin Field.

In its storied history, the Relays have provided competition for more athletes than any other track event in the world and attracted some of the world’s top athletes like Tyson Gay, Jeremy Wariner, LaShawn Merritt, Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards and Lauryn Williams. The Relays also offers races and events at the high school, collegiate, Olympic Development and masters levels.

Along with top competitors, the Relays attracts notable track and field enthusiasts, as well as former athletes. Philadelphia native Bill Cosby is a life-long supporter of the Penn Relays as well as a former participant. Other notable visitors to the Relays include Olympic greats Carl Lewis, Bruce Jenner, Roger Bannister and Michael Johnson as well as R&B music mogul Russell Simmons and filmmaker Spike Lee among others.

Away from the athletic action, the Carnival Village and street vending provide an enriching cultural experience with food from around the world. The Relays enjoys a large Caribbean following that brings an exciting flair to the weekend’s festivities.

Online at ThePennRelays.com, fans can access up-to-date information as well as new features including live blogs, videos, auctions, photo store, merchandise, and more. Users can also sign up for a Quaker E-Pass to receive weekly emails and access premium website features.

All Penn faculty, staff and students are invited to attend free of charge on Thursday, April 23 and Friday, April 24 by showing their PennCard at the Penn Athletics Ticket Office. General admission ticket prices for Saturday start at $25. Tickets are available by calling 1-888-PENN-TIX or by going to www.ThePennRelays.com. At the Penn Relays, there is an average of one race every five minutes over 33 hours of competition. The Relays’ website will try to keep pace with up-to-the-minute results, features, video, blogs, previews and podcasts, news and updates.

The Penn Relays is one of the many events you and your child can attending during this year’s Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day scheduled for Thursday, April 23. See Human Resources’ website at www.hr.upenn.edu for more information.