Favorite Runways or place to vault.

[indestructo]

favorite for me would be indoors at Grand Valley State University. The track runs underneath the stands for the backside straightaway. The runway and pit is right next to that. So the crossbar sits right at the eye level for the fans.

I've never even seen a downhill runway....wouldn't that cause things to get a bit dangerous...??

[Azbeachboy1]

I've never even seen a downhill runway....wouldn't that cause things to get a bit dangerous...??

what do you think of when you here, "downhill"?

[indestructo]

I picture it as a runway with a slight downward slope towards the pit....

[Azbeachboy1]

Well there ya go. To tell you the truth, a downhill runway is like having a tail wind. Thats about all. There was actually an equation I saw that compared tail wind speed, to the downward slope of a runway. For example, a tail wind of .10 would be equal to a runway with a down word angle of like say 5 degrees or so. Like I said that was just an example, I have no idea what the equation is.It showed that every degree equalled like .02 of a tail wind or so.

[indestructo]

What would be the use in this type of vaulting. Yeah you can attain higher heights because of the speed. But wouldn't this give a false sense of speed when you get back to a flat runway, and raise the likelyhood of stalling out?? I think having a tail wind show up at a meet would be less effective also, if you've been practicing with the downhill runway. I've heard of this type of runway before and thought it would be fun to give it a shot, but I don't think I would want to train on it very often.

[Azbeachboy1]

Here in Arizona olympic Gold medalist, Nick Hysong, trained on a downhill runway for years right before the olympics. So, if a gold medal is an advantage, then there ya go.

[OAKPV2004]

I vaulted on a downhill runway and vaulted my highest ever from my short run...I think it is kind of dumb but its fun. i mean you go higher.

[jmayesvaultmom]

If it gives you some confidence for your next meet ...I would think that adrenalin would kind of equal out for a downhill runway in a real meet. Most of the time when you practice you aren't going to have the same feeling as in a meet... maybe the confidence would help. It would also show you what you could do if you were faster and maybe inspire you to work more on speed drills And actually... most of the "downhill" runways aren't going to be THAT downhill.

[vaultin chris]

the downhill runway inst a bad thing. u r actually less likely to stall out on a downhill runway and if u focus on doing thins right everytime u vault then the downhill runway can be a useful traing tool. When u go to speed camp or Acceleation training they often make you run on a treadmill set a speed that is hard to keep up with, this forces you to run correctly in order to keep up. when u run on a downhill runway u sould be focusing keeping ur knees up and getting a high plants. sure u will need to use bigger poles but it will help u just like a treadmill.

It has its advantages for people who are 'too fast' and have to learn to control there run sure u could go barreling down the runway but could u plant it? the dowhill runway helps u work on the control aspect also. So dont knock it until you try IT!

[indestructo]

I've got nothing against downhill runways. I do see the point in using them for confidence building and learning control. I'm seeing that you just have to be smart when you return to a flat runway because that extra speed isn't there. I would like to try some downhill vaults sometime for sure though. A lot of good points were brought up. Thanks.

[crash]

Hey what about Reno ? The entire experience makes that place off the wall. Hard to top if you ask me, but on the other hand there is alot of places i haven't been yet mostly keeping it in Texas



late

[PVCoach]

Wrightsville Beach Vault... Vaulting on the beach on a fast runway with a big tail wind is an incredible experience! I wanted to vault on the beach in 1978, my senior year of HS, but no one was doing it then. I really enjoyed it this year,... even though I no-heighted.

We have a Wrightsville Beach Vault photo as our Feature photo at our site. It's my son, Chase Shealy, in his Spiderman outfit, with a great view of the beach. Check it out at http://CarolinaExtreme.com We also have a Cool Vault Event photo's section which feature our vaulters at WBV and the Clovis Street Vault in California. We're still posting photo's but some are ready to view. Enjoy!