Franklin Field, Philadelphia, PA | April 26–27, 1929
Toward the end of his second American tour, Paavo Nurmi competed in the famous Penn Relays in Philadelphia. The Flying Finn won the two-mile race with 9:15.2 and the three-mile race with a world-leading time of 15:00.5, though both were far from his best performances.
In 1976, Lasse Virén also competed at Franklin Field, right after the Montreal Olympics.
Penn hosted a strong invitational mile, where the world’s second-ranked runner of 1929, Leo Lermond, defeated Orval Martin. However, the winning time was a slower 4:14.6.
1-4 (Spalding’s NCAA Guide)
Film (Reuters)
Nurmi leads the 2-mile race at Franklin Field.