PoleVaultPower.com

I am going to bring this issue up again.

Last year at NCAAs, the athletes on the outer runway performed worse than the athletes on the inner runway during the qualifying rounds.

Here are the numbers: http://www.polevaultpower.com/docs/sacstaterunways.html

The speculation is that the outer runway is slower.

My advice to all athletes and coaches who made it to DI nationals: if you end up on the outer runway, don't be afraid be conservative with your pole and grip. You shouldn't have to jump anything huge to make finals, play it safe and clear some bars.

http://www.polevaultpower.com/docs/sacstaterunways.html

Becca,

Could you average the PR's of those on each pit in those tables along with the % makes.

I think you may see a correlation... at least on the guys side.

They guys didn't seem to have too much of a problem but the girls seemed to have not as good of a time. Maybe it was just bad luck and stands out because Johnson NH'd. Do we have any real opinion from the athletes on how they felt?

Was there any comparison made during the 2004 trials?
Both pits were used during the men's and women's qualifing rounds.

Both runways are over 130 feet. While not 100% sure, I believe the inner is 149 and the outer is 138 feet

cdmilton wrote:Do we have any real opinion from the athletes on how they felt?

The two athletes I talked to who NH'd on the outer runway were not big fans

SlickVT wrote:Becca,

Could you average the PR's of those on each pit in those tables along with the % makes.

I think you may see a correlation... at least on the guys side.

The chart for each pit includes the entry mark.

Any outdoor factors included, any wind or something like that? A lot of pits have little quirks like a different back angle in the box, im thinking there are too many variables to make a judgement like that. At the same time, i wasnt there and maybe it really is a different material and/or slower. It would be interesting to find out.

vault3rb0y wrote:Any outdoor factors included, any wind or something like that? A lot of pits have little quirks like a different back angle in the box, im thinking there are too many variables to make a judgement like that. At the same time, i wasnt there and maybe it really is a different material and/or slower. It would be interesting to find out.

They are not different materials. The inner runway is more downhill than the outer one, that is why it is faster.

ah, well that would make sense. :-)

rainbowgirl28 wrote:

cdmilton wrote:Do we have any real opinion from the athletes on how they felt?

The two athletes I talked to who NH'd on the outer runway were not big fans

well i asked Brad Smith, from Georgia on the matter, and he said he felt great on the outer runway.

plus it also rained on us during the prelims, so i dont think its fair to blame it on the runway. between the rain and crosswinds some people got it done, and some people didn't. anyway, i guess we will be able to make more comparisons after another round of data

I was on the outer pit last year, it wasn't so much the floating box plug where my 2nd step landed as the 45 min delay due to rain (108 years since it had rained on that day) that probably affected me the most. There really wasn't a lot of room under the two tents they had up for the 20+ vaulters and the officials. that's my 2 cents

I don't think anyone should blame it on the runway. I just want to get the word out that it MAY be a bit slower, so people aren't afraid to make adjustments.