How many runners can do the VAMEVAL at once?

About ten on a 400 m track, one per cone with a free cone between neighbours. Everyone runs at the same speed, so the group does not stretch out, but runners who drop out need room to leave the track. For a class of thirty, run two or three waves.

Can I run the VAMEVAL in a sports hall?

Not well. The test needs a continuous loop, and a hall gives you a rectangle with sharp corners. Use the beep test indoors and keep the VAMEVAL for a track or a marked loop on a pitch.

What counts as a miss?

Being more than a cone behind at the beep. The usual rule is that one late cone can be recovered and two in a row ends the test. The rule matters less than telling everyone before the start and applying it to everyone.

Can I compare a VAMEVAL result with a beep test result?

Compare each runner with their own earlier result on the same test. The two tests are run differently, one in a continuous loop and one with a turn every 20 m, so the same runner does not land on the same MAS.

How do you run a VAMEVAL test with a group?

Why the VAMEVAL suits a group

The VAMEVAL is run on a loop, not between two lines. Every runner follows the same speed, so the pack keeps its shape. At each beep a runner should be level with a cone. A 400 m track holds 20 of them.

That fixed pace is what makes the group easy to place. Runners start on different cones and keep the same gap to their neighbours for the whole test.

Set up the loop

The length. A 400 m track, or a loop marked on a pitch, whose length is an exact multiple of 20 m. Measure it with a tape. A cone placed at 19 m instead of 20 gives every runner 5% less distance between beeps, so they reach higher stages than they earned and the whole squad gets a MAS that is too high.

The cones. One every 20 m, on the line the runners will follow. On a track, use the inside lane and tell everyone to stay in it.

The sound. The test is paced by beeps. One speaker at one end of a track is not enough, because runners on the far side stop hearing it. Use two speakers, or one loud speaker at the centre, and walk the loop to check the volume at each bend.

The sheet. Print a list of names with one column for the stage. The VAMEVAL calculator turns a stage into a speed afterwards.

What to say before the warm-up

Say it once and keep it short.

Run from cone to cone. At every beep you are level with a cone.
Do not run ahead of the beep. It costs you energy before the stages that count.
The speed goes up about every minute.
One cone behind is recoverable. Two in a row and your test is over.
When you stop, leave the track on the outside and go to your scorer. Do not stop on the line.

The start

Put each runner on a different cone, with at least one free cone between neighbours. All of them start on the first beep. With ten runners on a 400 m track, each has room to run and room to leave.

The first stage is 8 km/h, a jog. Some runners will set off too fast. A word at the start fixes it.

Pairs

Give every runner a scorer who stands at the starting cone. The scorer counts the stage changes and writes down the stage when their runner leaves the track. Then the pair swap.

This needs far fewer adults than one scorer per runner. It also keeps the waiting players in the test, because a pupil counting a friend’s stages is paying attention.

How long it takes

Stage 13 is run at 14 km/h, and reaching it takes a little over 13 minutes. A well-trained runner goes past 20 minutes, up to 20 km/h at stage 25. Book 25 minutes per wave with the warm-up and the changeover.

For thirty runners, run two waves of fifteen or three of ten. Keep the same track, the same surface and the same time of day for the retest.

After the test

Each runner leaves with a stage, a MAS and the paces that follow from it. To turn a squad’s stages into one list, paste them into the team report. To build sessions from the MAS, use the MAS pace calculator.

Retest after six to eight weeks, and compare the VAMEVAL with the VAMEVAL. If your group is indoors, the beep test guide for a team covers that route.

When it goes wrong

A strong headwind on the straight makes the same cone gap harder to hold than on the back straight, and it costs a stage or two on a windy day. Test on a calm day or note the weather beside the result. Runners who cut the bends gain distance without earning it, so ask them to stay on the cone line. A runner who drops out in the middle of the loop and stops there blocks the ones behind, which is why the briefing says to leave on the outside.