May 2007

This page is OLD!!   There has been quite a bit of activity since I wrote this page shortly after the 2004 reunion. The least I can do is provide a link or two that are more current.

This first page provides a brief synopsis of my competitions in 2007.
And this one to competitions in 2006.
But probably of most interest to my DHS classmates is this one which chronicles (pun intended) our DHS track team's antics from 1962 through 1964. By the way, I still have the grand ambition of jumping higher now than I did in high school. Three more inches to go. Stay tuned....

- John

Hello everyone,

What a great DHS 40th Class Reunion!   Thanks to all who worked doing the planning, organizing and communication, and to those that came and shared their lives and the fun of remembering old times.  More than a few of you questioned my recent activity of pole vaulting, or maybe you were just questioning my sanity!   Anyway, for those that have an interest, the links below include a few still images and some video of me vaulting.

The vaulting club I belong to (see our web page) holds pole vault camps and Street Vaults during the summer.   A Street Vault is an open competition where a pole vault pit and runway is assembled in a public street in conjunction with city festival or sporting activity.   We also provide a place for vaulters to practice and be coached.   The vaulters are mostly high school aged but we have kids from 12 years old to ... well, 58 years old.   It is at these activities and USATF Masters track meets that the video and photos were taken.

I seldom have a good pole plant and take off so when a friend captured me doing it right for a change, I definitely had to have that image to show.   The same goes for getting "vertical" during the top part of the jump.

The following are videos and are large files so I am warning you before you click on them.   If you don't have a high speed internet connection, I recommend you not try to download them because it will take forever.   For those of you that are still interested, read this little blurb about the videos first.

These videos were taken at the State Games of Oregon (3.55MB) on July 11, 2004.   The video includes all my jumps in sequence.   The first jump is at 11' 6", the next two at 12', the next at 12' 6" and the last 3 are attempts at 13'.

During practice we often jump at heights that are beyond what we have made.   We use a piece of surgical tubing with some soft pipe insulation on it as a crossbar.   This does two things, it makes it so you don't have to put up the crossbar after a "miss", and when you do miss, it doesn't hurt as much as when you hit a rigid crossbar.   This video is of an attempt at 13' 9"(0.8MB).

Best Regards,
- John Altendorf