The Lifer

As the 111th running of the Penn Relays approaches, all eyes will be on the young athletes hoping to make their mark in the annals of Franklin Field history.

It is easy to forget that for some, the Penn Relays is a lifelong endeavor.

Harris Zimmerman is one such man.

Zimmerman has done it all at the Relays, from competing in the discus and hammer throw during his time as a student at Penn in the 1940s, to volunteering as an assistant official for the throwing events, to becoming the head official of the throwing events until his retirement from the Relays in 2001, when he began undergoing treatment for cancer.

He has seen everything from the advent of television coverage, to the admission of women into the meet, to the creation of the carnival atmosphere that fans today associate with the Relays.

After graduating from the College in 1947, Zimmerman continued to compete in track meets in the New York area, the mecca of track and field in the United States at that time. He soon realized that an Olympic career was not in the cards.

Still, he could not get rid of the urge to participate in track and field in some way, and he hoped to become an official in his hometown of Philadelphia.

But Zimmerman was not accepted into the community of officials right away.

"In those days New York was the headquarters of track, and that's where all the officials were," Zimmerman said. "The New York Officials Association really controlled all of the big track meets, and Penn Relays was one of the big track meets.

"So it was very hard to crack in officially, even though it was on our home field. So for the first few years, I sort of volunteered."

In 1953, Zimmerman was accepted into the officiating community and over the course of the next 49 years, he watched as the Relays turned into the spectacle that they are today.

But back in the 1950s, the directors had yet to work out some of the meet's many kinks.

"The discus and the hammer were thrown across the street where the parking garage next to the Museum [of Archaeology and Anthropology] is today," Zimmerman said. "I don't think there was a Relays where somebody didn't put a hammer through a car parked on the street."

According to Zimmerman, in those days, many discus throwers had problems with the clay surface of the pit.

"If it was wet, sometimes you'd fall flat on your rear end," Zimmerman said.

Because of these and other problems, the throwing events were moved to Bower Field and what is now Warren Field.

This created other issues for the officials of the Relays.

"The field is right below the train tracks, so the conductors would come right up and stop the train so they could watch," Zimmerman said. "The problem was, the train would be idling, and it made a lot of noise. And the athletes would get mad.

"This one guy said to me, 'I'm not throwing till that train leaves.' So I said, 'Fine. I'm gonna disqualify you.' Then he went out and set a personal record."

Starting out as a measurer for the discus and hammer throw, Zimmerman worked his way up to Associate Chief in the discus by 1961. In 1973, he became the Chief Official for the javelin, and in 1979 he was named Throwing Events Referee, a title he held until his retirement.

Zimmerman's position as head official of the throwing events occasionally put him into conflict with some of sports' most recognizable faces.

Take Rosie Greer for instance.

The mammoth Penn State football star went on to a brilliant career in the NFL as a member of the Los Angeles Rams' "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line in the late 1960s. But before his pro career and before he became Robert Kennedy's bodyguard, Greer competed in the discus at the Relays.

"Rosie Greer, RFK's bodyguard, he was a great, big guy," Zimmerman said. "He used to throw the discus. And invariably, he would foul. And I remember, I called two fouls on him, and he looked up at me and said, 'You know what, they don't make that circle big enough for me.'"

But, as Zimmerman likes to say, "rules are rules," even for Rosie Greer.

Although Zimmerman has seen countless great athletes in competition, he never wavers when asked who was the greatest he ever saw compete.

"The best group of throwers that I ever saw compete at the Relays were from 1981 to 1984 at Southern Methodist. One was Michael Carter. He was probably the most outstanding athlete I ever saw at the Penn relays.

"But Michael Carter was a very nice individual. He could have been a world champion in the shot put if he didn't decide to play pro football. He really didn't practice, but he was really special."

Many would argue that Carter made the right decision. He became a Pro Bowl nose tackle and won three Super Bowls during a ten-year career with the San Francisco 49ers. And by the way, he did win the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

But for a lifelong field event enthusiast like Zimmerman, it was a waste of an unbelievable talent.

Ultimately, Zimmerman was forced to retire from officiating after the 2001 Relays to begin dialysis treatment. Upon his retirement, he was given the Herman J. Mancini Award, established to honor an active official for continued meritorious service to the Relays. Former Penn track coach Jim Tuppeny was among the past winners.

Although he cannot be at the Relays this year, he will watch all he can on television. And his family legacy at the Relays will live on through his son Robert, who makes the trip from Virginia to Penn every year to serve as an official.

Even at 80 years of age, the mere mention of the Penn Relays brings excitement and a twinkle to the old officials' eye.

And for Harris Zimmerman, that is the point of the Relays in the first place, especially for the officials.

"If you're not out there doing it because you have fun, I don't know why you would do it," he said. "They definitely don't pay you anything."

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