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Sandrock: Manson's consistency unmatched
January 20, 2006
Most people, sports fans and non-fans alike, are aware of the 4-minute mile and what it signifies as a mark of a world-class athlete. Now, imagine if someone had run a 4-minute mile every year for the past two decades.
Pat Manson can be considered that equivalent of that person.
Last weekend at the Air Force Academy, he pole vaulted 5.50 meters, or 18 feet. Not only did the jump give Manson a qualifying mark for the Feb. 25 USATF Indoor Championships in Boston, it was also the 21st consecutive year Manson had reached a height which some compare in difficulty to running 4 minutes for the mile.
The vault also showed that at 38, Manson is not giving up his track and field dreams easily.
"It was totally unexpected and so exciting," said Manson, who lives in Superior with his wife, Amy, and children Max, 5, and Mia, 3. "My power is less every year but my technique is better."
Manson has long had power and technique. The last time he did not jump 18 feet was way back in 1985, when Manson was a junior at Aurora Central High School. Manson went on to win the state title and set several national high school records that still stand. As a collegian at the University of Kansas, he set NCAA records and was a seven-time All American.
As a professional athlete, Manson jumped as high as 19-2 and made a living for many years competing on the European track circuit. He also came very close to making a couple of U.S. Olympic teams.
While most of the athletes competing on the world stage when Manson was in his prime have long since retired, Manson keeps on going. Making his most recent vault even more remarkable is that 18 feet is Manson's personal best on a "short run" of 100 feet, which most vaulters use indoors. The sprint to the bar outdoors is longer, meaning more speed and thus more momentum over the bar.
At Air Force, Manson used a 16-foot pole, gripping it near the top at 15-8. After sprinting the 100 feet down the runway spurred on by the clapping crowd, Manson placed his pole into the "plant box." The box is 8-inches deep, meaning that at the top of his vault, he was 15 feet above the ground. He then had to push off the pole, let if fall to the ground, and soar another three feet into the air to clear the bar.
The nice part of this tale is that the crowd at the Air Force fieldhouse understood the significance of what Manson did. He explains the jump this way:
"The environment was perfect, which made it more fun. Someone had told the announcer that the bar was at 18 feet and what that would mean. So as I walked back for the second attempt, the announcer told the story. There was nothing else happening at that exact moment. The whole fieldhouse started clapping in unison to cheer me on.
"I smiled because it was so much fun, and also used all 21 years of experience to not let the adrenaline of the moment cause me to try too hard. I lightly nudged it as I slipped over, but the bar was never in danger of coming down. Of course, with nothing else going on, the wiggling bar that stayed up caused a fair roar."
That roar is appropriate recognition for Manson, a genuinely nice guy who gives much back to track and field. He knows that at 38, every jump could be his last, which is why when he landed in the pit after clearing 18 feet, it was Manson himself who gave what might have been the loudest yell of the night.
"It was unexpected since this was just the second meet of the season," he said. "I did 16-6 at CU last weekend, with good attempts at 17 feet. Jumping high is the goal and an 18-footer was obviously a target for me. It was a fantastic, great feeling. I don't know how to describe it, but it was like being a little kid dreaming of throwing the touchdown pass. It is a goal that just gets harder every year, and I got it."
Manson, a former U.S. national indoor champion, is long past being a full-time athlete. He is a husband, father, owner of the mortgage company Vault Mortgage, and for the past several years has been busy putting on high school pole vaulting clinics.
Despite the time it takes, teaching top prep vaulters proper technique has kept Manson sharp as he ages.
"The experience has made me acutely aware of more of the technical details," he explained. "So while I help the kids go higher, it reminds me again about things I had been taking for granted, so it helps me as well ... God willing I'll stay healthy and use my longer run, so I can bring in more velocity and energy to jump even higher."
That higher jump could come at the U.S. indoor championships, and if you hear a loud scream coming our way from Boston, you will know that Manson did indeed once again defy time and entropy by jumping even higher.
