We have officially gone private with a private yard and plenty of room for pole vault pits, runways, a bin, equipment and more. For the last two weeks, we have set forth a path to take care of future athletes looking for a new pole vault home. As soon as we are able to move around a bit, we will instantly put our club into action and start training kids again. No longer waiting or asking for permission from a school or their district. A brand new pit system, new Kanstet runway, and a whole new location; we are blessed.
Below is a small look at what we have accomplished thus far.
For our storage needs, we have placed a 40-foot storage container that is now housing our new Vaulter Club pits and standards while construction is underway. Once the pits are set up we will house all of our poles and gear that we need to run our club. This storage container is 20 feet longer than our last bin, so we will be back to having plenty of room for gear.
Grading is a priority that we accomplished prior to setting up the runway system. Once the ground was graded we added road mix and tamped the ground down for a solid base. There is plenty of room for a second runway, but for now, we will stick with one. In the future, if we need a second set up, we have two reserves lifted runways that we can use.
Now that the area is set up, the land is moved, surveyed and ready to go, now the installation of the runway is started. The runway that we chose is one of the best types and styles in the world. Kanstet built the stadium track for the 2016 World Indoor and they built ours with the same craftsmanship and professionalism. Solid construction with a quality wood base, rubber inlay and a pellet infused slurry that caps the top of the raised runway off. A total of six legs per section to stabilize and control the runway movement. in other words, it is fast and it is solid.
The platform for the pits and the runway are made from a welded galvanized steel. The section are easily placed together for a seamless build and a stable environment for the protection of your landing system. On top of the steel will be sheets of 3/4″ plywood screwed to the steel to keep the sections together. Once the landing system is placed, there will be a back stop put built to keep the pits from moving.
The length of the runway is 115 feet with some room to go 120. We want to keep the system away from the fence as much as possible. We went ahead and gave up some runway length in exchange for safety around the pit.
Once the pole vault pit is placed, there is well over a foot of space around the platform to mount the standards to the platform and have access to the pit system from all sides.
Like we have stated in the past and still maintain to this day. You have to act in any situation that presents itself rather good or bad. Sitting around is not our style and never will be. We started this club by providing a FREE experience for the athletes. Asking kids for a $20 bill per session was never our intention.
Once we realized that the FREE route was a bad choice due to lack of commitment and a willingness to take a business seriously, we implemented change. As Mark Brown once said, “we have to have an athlete that is just as invested as we are”. We needed a commitment from the parent and the athlete or we would have the same program as all the rest.
In the end we will continue to show our commitment to the athlete and build from this day forward. Please stay tuned and follow along as we build. Oh yea, you can bet your booty we will be open and running the instant that we can.
Coach Doug and Derek
P.S. We will still maintain our high school coaching and giving back to the community.
