How should we run the all-comers meets next summer?

[rainbowgirl28]

As most of you know, we have begun to max out our ability to pole vault at Shoreline Stadium during the summer all-comers meets. Last summer I had three weeks of 40 vaulters, and the summer before was similar.

40 is the absolute maximum number of vaulters we can run in one evening. That is with using every trick I know of to finish on time... three options for setting the standards, going in 20cm (8") increments, starting ON TIME, etc.

We had hoped to drop a second box at Shoreline Stadium and get two pits running, but the Shoreline School district will not allow us to do this. Using a portable pit and runway does not seem feasible on a weekly basis, as it takes way too much manpower to set up and tear down, there is nowhere to store it at the Stadium, and Shoreline does not want a second pit in their facility for fears of vandalism.

So I need to come up with an alternate plan for next summer. There is a good chance that I will not be around to officiate the pole vault, and there aren't too many other people who can run 40 vaulters in an evening. I'd also rather create a better experience for you guys by having less people at the pit and going 15cm (6") at a time. I expect demand to keep increasing for the event, and I think that our overcrowded fields have kept some away.

Starting before 6pm is not an option, it's too hard for most people to get there even by 6, and we already have the problem of vaulters arriving before the gate has been set up to collect money. Running later is not an option either.

Options I have thought of so far:
- Running guys and girls on alternating weeks.
- Opening height of 5' one week with a max bar height of 12'0 or so and 11' the next week with no max bar height. Roughly those numbers anyway.

The advantage of splitting by gender is there is no overlap. If we go by heights, there might be some vaulters who want to vault both weeks, though I guess we could just not allow people to jump in consecutive weeks. It is consistent with the all-comers series to alternate weeks, as we alternate weeks already for our sprints, hurdles, and distance events.

Please give me your feedback on these ideas and let me know if you have additional ideas. Please feel free to forward this to anyone else who might be interested.

Thanks,
Becca

[KirkB]

Becca, I don't have any good suggestions for you, other than to say that yours is a nice problem to have. Really! You must be doing SOMETHING (probably a LOT of things) right to have such a popular program!

Whatever you do, figure out what it is that keeps vaulters coming back, and make sure that your solution to your 'problem' retains the key elements of the success that you're having!

Good luck!

Kirk