Penn Relays Memories:

My first experience at the Penn Relays was in the mid 70's on a Saturday afternoon. We sat in the closed-in end high up in the stands, scrunched between the dueling fraternities (chanting) and the Jamaicans beating their drums and smoking something quite aromatic. The races were being run every 5 minutes like clockwork, as timed by the big P*E*N*N*S*Y*L*V*A*N*I*A clock at the other end of the track. Nothing is quite like Penn Relays, as anyone who ever ran there or just sat in the stands oooohhhing at every 400 meter stud running by knows. My recent expose on the 4x800 relay brought out some thoughts by Randy Moore, the anchor of that relay. His memories are worth $20 as promised in the previous post, provided he golfs with us in May! The memories are actually worth much more than that....(I'm wondering if Randy has a PSU degree in Literature??)

-Skwilli

running anchor was always nerve racking. you had at least 5 long minutes of waiting and watching while your teammates ran their hearts out. you'd jog around and try to shake loose. but that day, when Millsy had 200 meters to go, it hit me. this is it. i'm not the sophomore this year happy to make the traveling team. i need to bring the baton home - in first - the way my teammates brought it to me. then my heart really started pounding. the crowd roared as Millsy made his move. with Millsy 100 meters away, I saw the long shadow of the teams lined up in the exchange zone - we were the anchor men. we were jammed together Penn Relays style. we were anxious - and ready to pop. i remember thinking here we go. it was D day, except the enemy was a cocky kid named miles irish. how do you compete against someone named miles? my mom should have names me something tougher like, squirrel hill or Julian pike.

millsy came in hard and and i took off. wow, i remember thinking - perfect stick! i ran the first 500 meters on nerves. i remember thinking, "smooth and relaxed". at 500 meters i felt Miles closing behind. 'ok, the race starts here' i remember thinking. 'take it off autopilot'. i knew the first 400 was fast enough but not too fast. at 200 meters to go i saw a shadow again, right behind mine and heard the imperative command 'no ******* way'. i dropped the hammer in a way i'd never done before, and maybe never done after. i just ran. my very own forest gump moment.

the rest is a blur. i don't remember any pain. i don't remember any thoughts or chants like i always did to finish strong. i just ran. everything was silent. i didn't know where the tape was and i think i ran 20 meters too far. I missed the photo op with my arms raised in victory. i didn't care. it was over and we were victorious.

we were all different people on that team. we were all competitive, but on that day we were one. on that day were were the best - best in the world that year. that day we were pure and sublime. and we made Harry cry - which really was something special.

-Randy Moore