Method 1 – Runner stands outboard of wing tip facing in the direction
of launch and holding the wing tip trailing edge with the hand nearest
the glider.

Method 2 – Runner stands close behind the wing just inboard of the
wing tip and holds the trailing edge of the wing with both hands.

I missed this thread--which was sparked by an experience at this
year's US Std/Open Nationals--at the time but I just had to add yet
another note...from a different perspective. I received the worst wing
run I've had in many years on the practice day, which admittedly also
involved a stiff 90 degree crosswind and partial water, and ground off
a good bit of the rubber tip skid. So the next day I declined the line
crew's offer and, instead, gave a careful briefing in Method 1 to my
daughter, Tina who, while a XC and track runner, had never run a wing
before. She did an outstanding job and was soon quite in demand from
other pilots on the grid. The biggest problem was someone who "re-
educated" her the next day in Method 2. She was fast enough as a
runner that it worked for her. But I still disagreed it was the best
method. Unfortunately her "mentor" had been so persuasive that it took
me a while to convince her that my 45 years in soaring were sufficient
to qualify me on this point. She's 16; why should she believe anything
I say?

Ultimately I talked to the organizers and explained the problem. My
biggest concern wasn't that one person was out there running wings the
"wrong" way but that an entire line crew had been instructed to do so.
To their great credit, their reaction was to hang a safety vest on
Tina and induct her into the line crew. She didn't do any training
while we languished in the monsoon that was Hobbs 2010 but she got her
workouts in anyway running a lot of wings--using Method 1.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
USA