Penn Relays 2024: Time, tickets, parking and everything you need to know before you go

If you’ve been around the Penn Relays, are a track-and-field enthusiast, or have lived anywhere in the vicinity of Franklin Field over the last decade, then you know just how electric the final Saturday of the event can get.

This year, you’re in for a treat.

The return of the Penn Relays, now in their 128th running, brings the expansion of a partnership with World Athletics, global track and field’s governing body. That should help bring the sport’s big names back to Franklin Field, five years after the popular USA vs. the World races ended.

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Saturday, or the main day for the Global Relays, feels like the final return to normalcy to an event that was modified in its return post-pandemic in 2022. It showed too. The signature “wooos” from fans as racers reached the final turn were gone. So were the eclectic smells of global eats emanating from the Carnival Village. Well, it’s all back, with the first starter’s pistol scheduled to go off at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Ahead of it all, here’s what to expect from a busy three days of events.

The three-day event begins Thursday and will culminate on Saturday with more than 100 high schools and colleges combined, and other top races ranging from Olympic hopefuls to Masters (60 and over) participating in running and field events.

General admission tickets are on sale for $26, which will provide an all-day pass for both Thursday and Friday. A ticket for Saturday’s finale is $29. There are also discounted tickets for Penn students and schools participating. All of that information can be found here. Unable to make it out but still want to watch? All three days are scheduled to be streamed live via FloTrack, but be forewarned it costs $30 per month for the service.

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If you’re savvy with public transportation, take it — the area around Franklin Field can be a cluster on race days. SEPTA has a regional rail line, several bus routes and the Market-Frankford Line all with stops just blocks from the stadium. If you’d rather drive, the following parking locations below are available starting at $25. For more information, visit upenn.edu/parking.

Thursday will feature a good portion of high school events, but the evening will feature college championships in both middle- and long-distance events, including the men’s and women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., with the women up first.

Friday is Championship of America race day for high school teams in various events, featuring the nine fastest teams from Thursday’s preliminary round. In addition to a host of American talent, there are always schools from the Caribbean that offer an early look at who the next phenom could be from Jamaica and other islands. Like sprints? Both the high school girls 4x100-meter (2:15 p.m. scheduled start) and the college men’s 4x200-meter (3:10 p.m. scheduled start) highlight Friday.

Saturday is the marquee race day. In addition to a host of single-leg and relay championships for both colleges and high schools, the Olympic development races featuring some of the best track athletes from the United States and the Caribbean are scheduled to compete in sprint, middle- and long-distance events in addition to the men’s and women’s high-jump competitions.

For the full schedule of events, in addition to the schools and athletes participating, click here. Also, there’s a store on the north side of Franklin Field where you can buy T-shirts and other souvenirs.

The best thing to get might be the program, which costs $15. As is our tradition at The Inquirer, we’re here to let you know it’s a bargain, even though the price went up a little this year. Not only does it have this year’s race schedule, but it has all the records for almost every race you could think of in Relays history.

U.S. Olympian Bryce Deadmon is the highlight of Saturday’s 400-meter event. Deadmon, who captured gold in the men’s 4x400 three years ago at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, heads to Franklin Field ranked among the top 10 in the world in the 400.

If you’re an Eagles fan, you’ll want to root for Olympic high jumper Vashti Cunningham, who will headline the women’s field in the elite high jump (Saturday) in the first running of the competition. The daughter of former Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham has finished first in the high jump in every USA Track and Field championship event since 2017.

Yep. In addition to the scores of area high schools and colleges that will field teams over the three days, you’ll want to make sure you’re in the stadium for the homecoming of middle-distance runner Nia Akins, who is scheduled to compete in the women’s 1,500-meter event.

A 2020 Penn graduate, Akins is still the program record holder or was part of a relay team that still holds the record in five events. She holds the records in the 800 and 1,500 meters and was a member of the record-setting outdoor 4x400 and indoor and outdoor 4x800 relay teams.

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Franklin Field is situated squarely on Penn’s campus and across from the city’s medical hub. However, there are many places to shop, dine, and explore in and around University City. Looking for something to get into when you’re not watching racers zip around the track or compete on the infield? In addition to the food trucks featuring dishes from around the world situated behind the Palestra, here are a few suggestions, courtesy of The Inquirer.

Staff writer Jonathan Tannenwald contributed to this article.