The image of pole vault icon Bob Richards' smiling face is still vividly etched in my mind. He was the first athlete to grace the front of the famous Wheaties cereal box.
Over many a morning meal, I remember being entranced with the idea of a man launching himself 15 feet in the air, propelled only by his own momentum and a rigid metal pole.
Almost as amazing to me was the fact that one could survive the fall from that height into a thin bed of wood shavings.
The element of danger and the prospect of flying was high-octane additive for a young lad who had just consumed his Wheaties.
I obtained a bamboo pole (used to carry rolls of carpet) from a friend's dad. My brothers and I set up a backyard vaulting pit using 2x4s as standards and a thin piece of corner moulding as a crossbar. Carefully spaced nails in the 2x4s provided a serviceable height adjustment. Several wheelbarrow loads of sand became the landing area.
I'm sure the sight of our industry would have inspired a Norman Rockwell painting.
From those humble beginnings (and after a transition to a metal pole), two milestone achievements have stuck with me over the years: I manage...
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