Does sprinting upstairs have a place in a sprinter’s program?
I’m not a fan: too frontside dominant, surface too hard, injury risk high (missed step) when fatigued, spacing remains the same unlike during acceleration pattern on any other surface.
Plenty of athletes have done some of it, in the way of stadium runs. I think Tom Tellez’s folks at Houston did it.
It’s gruelling work, but so is climbing Mt Everest and I’m not sure that’s specific to sprinting either. 
I would think it was good if you couldn’t do amything else, I.e. Weather injury, etc. Some use it to the feel and posture of max velocity mechanics.
At Stanford, the stadium was ideal if you ran every other row/bench because the rows got steeper as you went. It worked for 10 to 12 steps (20 to 24 rows) very well. Now, they’ve resurfaced the seats with metal covers and, as a result, the spring from the wood is gone.
i agree that stairs can be dangerous and they do not mirror acceleration patterns - but what else can you do if you do not have access to hills during your GPP phase. we have used sled pulls on a tile floor - but that seems a bit risky as well.
how about a weighted vest or weighted pants (5-10% bw) for resisted runs on a soft rollout runway surface? would this be a better option for resistance runs?
sorry - i just researched the topic (weighted pants and vests) and i understand why that is not a good option either (weighted pants and vests drop hip height and foul up sprint mechanics). man i love this forum!
I personally feel they can be benifical to training because they work on getting the knees high, dorsal felxing, and arm drive. They also help keep damage low on the knees since the leg is not having to drop as far as they would on a flat surface. All of these are esstential to running, but they can be dangerous as stated above as far rolling ankles. But in my opinion they are verry similar to running hill type work and so there for have a place in a sprint program.
personally i use sometimes if hills arent available due to weather and etc.
any ideas if bounding and plyos are good on stairs?
Yes they work very well, as studies by Istavan Javorik have shown. And i can attesst to so can our 52plus feet tripple guy.
Dick Booth uses them a lot for jumpers. He told me that when he first started at his local high school that he did a lot of them because they had almost no facilities or equipment. They did however have a school building with hallways and stairs.
I like stairs as a frequency type drill. So rather than “sprinting” up them, say as in skipping steps, try to hit every step as fast as possible. I guess it would be like a foot speed ladder on a incline.
Personally, I am not a fan of weighted pants, mainly because I injured myself using them. I do believe the drop in hip height contributed to the injury. I should have stuck with the sled (which we had used earlier in the season),
, live and learn I guess.
I came across some biomechanics research showing why stair running is more suited to humans. It was based on foot mechanics. Flat running involves more torque impact to joint spaces. Foot-strike biomechanics on stairs distribute forces evenly through joint structures (ankles, knees, hips, low back).
Stair running involves less torque impact on joints on landing. It can have a role in a sprinters program, so long as it is integrated with other training units.
Agreed so long as you don’t miss a step!