The bar for entry to this exercise is over your head

To pull off a pole vault jump, you sprint down a runway while holding a fiberglass or carbon fiber pole in your hands, plant the pole and propel yourself over a horizontal bar that’s often at least 6 feet high without knocking it over, then fall into a cushioned landing area.

“If you can run, do some push-ups and pull-ups, and are able to conquer physical and mental challenges, you can learn to pole vault," says former Plymouth State University pole vault coach Adam Keul.

The sport isn’t easy, but neither is it just for Olympic demigods clearing up to 20 feet or high-school kids scoring points for their track and field teams.

Across the U.S., adults all the way into their 90s turn to pole vaulting for exercise. Some join pole vault clubs because their kids do it. Others with little or no experience catch the bug watching the Olympics. Many compete in amateur events like Masters competitions, but you don’t have to be involved in competition to enjoy it. Recreational and competitive pole vaulting clubs have grown significantly since the 1990s, coaches say.

New heights

Troy McCurry, a 46-year-old lawyer living in Alexandria, Va., competed in track and field, as well as soccer, growing up, but never had a chance to try pole vault. He found an opportunity as an adult in his late 30s with DC Vault, a Washington, D.C., club with more than 60 active members. McCurry estimates he’s jumped around 8 feet in practice.

“I think pole vaulting is probably the most pure form of all-around athleticism," he says. “It’s a very, very hard thing to do. I think that’s why I keep coming back to it."

Rachel Romano, a 26-year-old engineer living in Crystal City, Va., signed up for a class with DC Vault this spring. Early on, she successfully cleared the bungee cord, which typically takes the place of a bar during training. Overcoming the fear can present a challenge.

“There are still a number of things you have to know to do while you’re in the air," Romano says. “It’s not just like flying and landing on the mat."

She has since cleared 8 feet at a competition in June, with just a few months of training.

“I can jump over any of my friends," Romano says.

The expectation isn’t to be flipping upside down on the first day, and newcomers should expect some aches while adjusting to the demands of the sport.

“Your arms are sore, because you need the upper-body strength to be able to pull yourself up," says Caroline Lauver, a 42-year-old social-policy researcher in Falls Church, Va. “Your core is sore, and you want a strong core because you’re raising your legs so you get inverted. And your legs are just sore from running and the strength piece of it."

Lauver competed in high school in Hudson, N.H., but didn’t pole vault again for over 20 years.

“I almost felt like there was unfinished business," Lauver says. She wanted to see if her middle-aged self could match what she did then. She’s come close, recently clearing 8 feet in a competition in Atlantic City, N.J.

Masters pole position

At 64, Rena Wong, a retired plastic surgeon, has her eyes on a world record.

About a decade ago, she was taking adult gymnastics classes in a facility near where she lives outside of Seattle, and the gym rented out space to a pole vault club. Wong had never tried it, but as a former gymnast at University of California at Berkeley, she says her fearlessness and skill drew attention from the pole vault coach.

“You need to start pole vaulting more often," Wong remembers the coach saying. “I’m going to turn you into a national champion."

Within a few meets, she was jumping 8 feet. Wong has won three Masters national championships. Now Wong is working toward her personal best of 9½ feet. She hopes to set the record in the 65-to-69-year-old age group for indoor pole vaulting.

Wong realizes pole vaulting can be intimidating. She has the scars to prove it. In 2022, she tore her right rotator cuff while jumping at her first indoor pole vault meet of the year. She didn’t pick up a pole for a year while rehabbing from surgery.

But Wong doesn’t want that to scare off anyone curious about the sport. She plans to pole vault for as long as she can.

“We have a whole bunch of living, breathing proof that you can pole vault into your 90s," she says.

Flo Meiler is a case in point.

In June, just a few weeks after turning 90, Meiler set a pending pole vault world record of 4 feet and half an inch for the women’s 90-to-94 age group during the decathlon at the 2024 U.S. National Masters Combined Events Championships in Charlottesville, Va.

That’s an impressive feat for anyone, let alone someone who first learned the sport at age 65 by watching VHS tapes. Meiler, a former competitive water skier who lives in Shelburne, Vt., holds more than a dozen Masters track and field world records.

She trains for all of her events six days a week and tries to practice pole vaulting at least once a week, usually at a nearby high school. Meiler’s favorite events are the pole vault…and the high jump.

“I’m a daredevil," she says.