2006   M60-64 (as of March 12th)
This was a very good year for my vaulting. I moved into a new age group. Two weeks later I won the USATF indoor national championships. During the year I set a new American outdoor record and then a new World outdoor record. The world record I broke was set in 1971 by Herbert Schmidt of Germany. In a subsequent meet I broke my own record and then in another meet, jumped higher yet. Unfortunately this last height will not count as a WR because there were not the requisite three certified officials there to observe the jump and measure the cross bar. In August I competed and won the USATF outdoor national championships.
(All references to winning and records are for my Masters age group of 60 through 64 years old.)

- John Altendorf

click on a link below for a results page from: mov = Quick Time Player video
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Date Meet Name and Location Place Height
(video link)
Comments
Jan 29 Reno Pole Vault Summit
Reno, NV
  3.70m
12'-1.5"
I was disappointed with the height I cleared. They didn't have us grouped by ages, but I believe I "won" the M55-59 age group.
Mar 12       My birthday, which moved me into the M60-64 age group.
Mar 24 USATF Masters Indoor Nat Champs
Boston, MA
1st 3.75m
12'-3.5"
After winning the competition I attempted an American and World indoor record of 3.92m, but failed. It was 9pm and virtually everyone except vaulters had gone home.
Apr 28 Western Oregon Univ (WOU) Twilight
Monmouth, OR
  3.65m
12'
I pulled my hamstring slightly on first jump (but still cleared the bar), so I withdrew. During warmups I had one of my strongest ever jumps.
Jun 10 Portland Masters Classic &
Oregon Assoc Champs
Gresham, OR
1st 3.91m
12'-10"
I broke the American and World records (old Am=3.83, old World=3.90). Obviously these are PMC and Ore Assoc meet records. (I first jumped 3.84, then 3.91 and failed at 4.00m) (note: video is truncated)
Jun 25 Hayward Classic &
NW Regional Champs
Eugene, OR  (results)
1st 3.65m
12'
Not a strong performance, but new Hayward Classic and NW Regional Champs records.
Jun 29 Hayward All-Comers
Eugene, OR
1st 13' 0"
3.96m
improved American record and World record (bar was set to 13' 0" so metric conversion will round down to 3.96m). I am the first person in the world, 60 or over, to clear 13'.
Jul 6 Hayward All-Comers
Eugene, OR
  12' or
12'6"
I don't remember much about this meet.
Jul 9 State Games of Oregon
Gresham, OR
2nd 12'-6"
3.81m
I tied with Dennis on height, but I had 1 more miss so he won. (We agreed to try 4.00m after the 12'6" jump but neither of us made it.)
Jul 20 Hayward All-Comers
Eugene, OR
  4.00m
13'-1.5"
This was done at a "pre-meet" meet with Dan West, Dan Umenhofer and a few others. Unfortunately this didn't count as a new world record.
Aug 5 USATF Masters Outdoor Nat Champs
Charlotte, NC
1st 3.80m
12'-5.5"
After winning the competition, I had the bar moved to 4.00m to attempt a new WR but didn't make it. A USATF photographer must have taken the photo of me linked from this page. (Go there and click on Pole Vault). At a practice the week before, I had this jump at a 13'-6" (4.11m) bungee..
Aug 12 Bend Open/Masters meet
Bend, OR
1st 12' 6"
3.81m
During a run through before the competition I felt a slight pull in my right ham. I worked it out as best I could, took only one jump and made it, then withdrew. The muscle pull was very much like the WOU meet except not as bad.

Metric to English Conversions

meters   feet inches   meters   feet inches   meters   feet inches
3.00 = 9 10.00   3.50 = 11 5.75   4.00 = 13 1.50
3.05 = 10 0.00   3.55 = 11 7.75   4.05 = 13 3.50
3.10 = 10 2.00   3.60 = 11 9.75   4.10 = 13 5.50
3.15 = 10 4.00   3.65 = 11 11.75   4.15 = 13 7.50
3.20 = 10 6.00   3.70 = 12 1.75   4.20 = 13 9.25
3.25 = 10 8.00   3.75 = 12 3.75   4.25 = 13 11.25
3.30 = 10 10.00   3.80 = 12 5.50   4.30 = 14 1.25
3.35 = 11 0.00   3.85 = 12 7.50   4.35 = 14 3.25
3.40 = 11 1.75   3.90 = 12 9.50   4.40 = 14 5.25
3.45 = 11 3.75   3.95 = 12 11.50   4.45 = 14 7.25

click on a link below for a results page from: mov = Quick Time Player video
high school  college  2003  2004  2005  2007  2008  2009  2010  2011  2012  wmv = Windows Media Player video