Comparison of the two runways at Sac State

[rainbowgirl28]

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

[DBH027]

I read your post on the SAC State runways, I have to disagree with you....I vaulted there this year and I don't believe the runways are uphill or downhill but are level...the runway towards the infeld is where we jumped and it was well over 125', i was actually amazed at how long it was, most jumpers were using 16 stride approaches around 110' and were barely at the mid-point of the runway...I have to admit, it is the best place I have ever vaulted and I have jumped at some pretty good facilities...it has a great Mondo surface which is extremly fast and on the day we jumped we had a smoking tailwind...I was most impressed with the officials, best I have ever seen...

I am sure this track meets all specs, it was used for the 2004 Olympic trials and I am sure it went through some reviews...

[DBH027]

more info on the track from the SAC State site:

Regarded as one of the fastest surfaces in the country, Hornet Stadium has also hosted the 2001 Junior Olympics, the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 2004 U.S Track and Field Olympic Trials. The venue will also be the site of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 NCAA Div. I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The track has been used by some of the best athletes in the world. Since it was installed in 1999, one world record, six American records, 22 Olympic Trials records, eight U.S. Championship records, two NCAA records, three American junior records and two national high school records have been set at the facility. That list is surely to grow as the NCAA Championship Meet returns to Sacramento State for the next three years.

The stadium track is surfaced with Mondo Sportflex Super X and features eight 1.22 meter-wide lanes on the oval and nine lanes for the 200 and 100 meter races. The track has a 37-meter radius with the steeplechase water jump on the inside of the track on the North curve.

[rainbowgirl28]

the runway towards the infeld is where we jumped and it was well over 125', i was actually amazed at how long it was, most jumpers were using 16 stride approaches around 110' and were barely at the mid-point of the runway...

I don't doubt that runway is well over 125'. It is the outer runway that I wonder about. Most of the guys at NCAAs were near the back of it.

[banda_b_c]

I am not very good at the polevault but alot of guys on the red pit were unable to get the damned runway figured out in time. The outer runway sucks. In my opinion.

[Vaultref]

from a facility spec manual distributed to "officials":

outside runway is 138' (red pit)
inside runway is 147' 8" (blue pit).


We were told (at last years trials) that the entire north end of the track which includes the track, steeplechase portion and the PV area is all flat and the same elevation. Without surveyors equipment, one would have no way to validate that statement.

The tape that was layed out on the inside runway was taken out to about 133'. That put it in front of the box insert on that runway. No one started beyond or on the insert on either pit so I'm told.

[bjvando]

would anyone agree with " Numbers never lie"?

I missed the mens prelims, but saw everything else and there was something to notice, and the way becca crunched the numbers certainly shows 'something' that was off there....

[achtungpv]

"There are three types of lies - lies, damn lies, and statistics."

I think you'd need numbers on a lot more meets at the facility to prove there's something going on. And even if the statistics stay the same over 20 meets and there appears to be a pattern. You can survey the facility and what if the slope, cross slope, wind, etc all matched up between the runways and there was no detectable difference between the two? Maybe you could just chalk it up to bad mojo.

[rainbowgirl28]

from a facility spec manual distributed to "officials":

outside runway is 138' (red pit)
inside runway is 147' 8" (blue pit).


We were told (at last years trials) that the entire north end of the track which includes the track, steeplechase portion and the PV area is all flat and the same elevation. Without surveyors equipment, one would have no way to validate that statement.

The tape that was layed out on the inside runway was taken out to about 133'. That put it in front of the box insert on that runway. No one started beyond or on the insert on either pit so I'm told.

Eddie Seese says when he questioned USATF about the slope of the runway in the past, he was told that is was level when measured from box to box. Which makes sense. We just won't worry about the uphill and downhill in the middle.

[SlickVT]

Lets blame the war in Iraq on the Sac State runways too... Just kidding...

Come on.

First of all, humans arent perfect, the two runways will never be identical.

Second, even if the runways are a little bit different from each other, its not by much. At least not enough to get in the heads of pole vaulters who should be good enough to not have it affect them.

Finally, I have been told be participating athletes who used both runways that they are exactly the same. It just so happened that more athletes were missing bars on one than the other.

[VTechVaulter]

does anyone have stats like those for the olympic trials... might be interesting to see

[lonpvh]

I would like to see from the last two Olympic Trials qualifing. The far runway looked like a great runway, everyone was blowing through with clearances with chestblow over the bar, the pit closest to the track was definately uphill longer and most of everyone was coming down short. I saw a bunch of dangerous situations on that pit. I do agree though, typically your better vaulter will be able to clear those lower heights no matter the conditions. The problem I had with it is that it just looked like the other pit just had an advantage. I've done this for a long time and when I saw the set up on Tuesday, I knew it would be a problem. I think it should be looked at. LON

Becca, Its actually 5 no heights for the guys on the red pit for the guys. So it ended up 8 no heights on the red and two on the blue overall.