Photograph by Jen Hengst
For three years now, spectators headed to St. Charles' Fourth of July Riverfest blowout have gotten their fireworks and cotton candy, plus a funky little something extra: pole-vaulting. Former Lindenwood University pole-vaulter Mark Aschen has organized an officially sanctioned competition—the Pole Vault Explosion— that takes place right in the midst of the Independence Day hoopla.
Wow. Live pole-vaulting in the park, huh? Oh yes. What sets this apart is I've built a raised wooden runway right in the middle of the Riverfest. There are two huge pole-vaulting mats in the middle of the park. The crowd is able to get really close and see guys and girls going 19 feet in the air with the aid of a big fiberglass stick.
Are there many competitors? Last year we had 75 high school and collegiate pole-vaulters from all over the country. We've also had five or six Olympic pole-vaulters, including the American record holder, Jeff Hartwig. He's from the St. Charles area.
What's it like to watch pole-vaulting for the first time? When you're standing there, and you see these strong guys and girls flying two stories into the air, it's exciting. For comparison, a basketball rim is only 10 feet up.
What's it like to do? The best feeling is to get all the way up there, and it's like you're floating, and then you see the bar under you, and you start to fall, and the bar is still holding. It's like scoring a touchdown every time you make it. It's an incredible feeling.
Is there a danger that the pole can break? We don't want any accidents worthy of YouTube, right? If you Google "Pole Vault Explosion," you'll see a video of a good friend of mine at PVE. He ran down the runway, and his pole became completely bent, and then it broke into two pieces. When the pole breaks, it sounds like a shotgun, and it makes your heart stop. But in 10 years of pole-vaulting, I've never been injured.
Who was the first pole-vaulter? Some guy trying to cross a stream a couple thousand years ago? The speculation is that someone was trying to get over a castle moat in medieval times.
If he missed, he might land in the moat and get eaten by crocodiles. Yeah. I definitely wouldn't have become a pole-vaulter at that time.
