Saturday, April 25, 2026

Penn Relays 2026 

My first time participating in Penn Relays on Thursday was a great experience. Last year my father's funeral was the day of Masters events, so obviously I could not race. But this year, my first!, our Men's 60 4x400 relay team got GOLD in our event, with stiff competition from the Southwest Sprinters team (which includes Masters track legends Michael Bradecamp, David Jones, and David Gibbon). Personally, I performed better than I could have imagined--running my 400 split in 56.87--bettering my PR in an individual 400 by 2 seconds! I was shocked when I heard the announcer reporting the leg time, was convinced it was someone else's or that there was a mistake. My teammates (John Curtis, Bruce Rash, and new team member Brian Howard) came through with strong performances, and we were able to hold off Southwest Sprinters at the end. When we lined up I noticed that David Jones was their team's anchor leg (he beat me last summer at outdoor Nationals by a second, and again at indoor Nationals in February by a second), and that David Gibbon (track superstar, current World Recorder holder in the 200 meters, who also is at the top in the 100 and 400 [he can run a 56 second 400!] was my competition in the second leg). They also had a strong and proven competitor lead guy with Bradecamp (who got Silver in the 400 meters at 59 seconds at my very first Nationals meet in Sacramento--I was fifth at 1:01). Honestly, though, when I saw Gibbon, I didn't totally freak out--I knew it was going to be a tough race from the get, and meanwhile, why not just look at it like a gift and opportunity to race the fastest guy? Probably lucky for me that he ran the individual 100 race AND a 4x100 relay BEFORE he got on the line for our race, otherwise we probably would have been (as it turned out based on my performance) shoulder to shoulder (which I still have trouble grasping--the guy is so fast!--but I actually ran pretty much as fast as he can in the 400 on Thursday, it's just amazing to me). It was a beautiful day, with awesome runners competing--got to see Peter Kashulines, too, one of my 800 idols, who runs a fast 400 as well. 

Here is our team--Bruce, John, me & Brian (our legs were John to me, then Bruce and Brian).

Here's a video clip of my leg. I forgot I had my sunglasses on when I saw John coming at me with the baton, so I just tightened the cord and went with them on!

Still having the time of my life out there, track fans!