Cool Article About 55 Year Old Gibbes McDowell

[Bubba PV]

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Real Fitness by: Gibbes McDowell

Age: 55

Residence: Beaufort

Favorite activity: Pole vaulting

Next competition: USA Track & Field South Carolina Masters Track & Field Championships on June 27 at Doug Shaw Stadium in Myrtle Beach

Real Fitness is an occasional series highlighting healthy individuals in the Lowcountry.

Some things just get better with age, and Gibbes McDowell hopes he is among them.

At 55 years old, the Beaufort resident wants to break a record he set as a high school junior nearly four decades ago.

High hopes, perhaps, but what else would you expect from a pole vaulter?

"No doubt, it's an adrenaline rush. And without shining my apple too much, it's a He-Man gig," McDowell said of the sport, which he returned to a couple of years ago after a friend bet him he couldn't hack it on the track anymore.

To condition himself for competition again, McDowell agreed to coach pole vaulters at his alma mater, Beaufort High School, in exchange for using the runway and pits for his own practices. He also participates in vaulting clinics across the state that are led by Rusty Shealy, a University of South Carolina graduate and former track coach. McDowell pole vaulted on scholarship at USC from 1972 to 1975.

"I tell my kids at the high school that they call it the 'Boys Pole Vault,' but there ain't no boys on this runway," McDowell said. "You're a man when you step on the runway. Pole vaulting is a sport that balances rush against risk."

WORTH THE PAIN

In spite of sustaining injuries to both ankles, a knee, a wrist and his back, as well as suffering a concussion and undergoing rotator cuff surgery during his vaulting career, McDowell said the pain has been worth the payoff he experiences when jumping to new heights.

As a high school junior, he set the state record at 13 feet, 7<2009>1/2 inches. And now that he's entering masters pole vault competitions across South Carolina -- post-collegiate track and field meets for athletes who are 35 years old and up -- McDowell has set his sights on making leap again to break the North American record for masters pole vault in the 55-59 age group: 13 feet, 6<2009>1/2 inches.

"Sometimes your mind can write checks your body can't cash, but it feels great to be back on the runway after all these years. My personal best so far is 13 feet at clinics and practice, but I'd like to crack that record," he said.

"When you really give everything you've got in the run, the plant and the takeoff, and you hear that fiberglass groaning, whip up and really rip it and cross over that bar, it's just the best feeling in the world when you're on your way down and you see that you've cleared it. It doesn't matter what the height IS."

NO POT BELLY

In addition to attending clinics and competitions, McDowell said he avoids getting a "pot belly and blood pressure problems" like many other men his age by working on his upper body and core strength three days a weeks at the Wardle Family YMCA in Port Royal.

He also does short distance and sprint workouts with his pole three days a weekhe track.

"At my age, I'm not going to have the gymnastic skills that I did when I was 18, but you can get back your strength and experience helps a lot," McDowell said. "It keeps me fit, and it's good for my self-confidence. I enjoy competition. When I step up on the runway with those kids, I get a step faster. Once I warm up, I get an adrenaline rush and two things happen: I know I'm ready, and they know I'm ready."

Though McDowell enjoys the occasional round of golf and comes from a line of athletes that includes a father who was a semi-pro boxer and an uncle who was an Olympic diver, he said pole vaulting is his sport of choice because it's self-driven and requires "110 percent."

"You have to be able to compete for yourself, within yourself and against yourself. You can't shuck it off and hope someone else is going to be able to win the race, catch the ball or tackle the guy," he said. "When you leave the ground with that vaulting pole, there's no stepping off to the side. There's no 'wait a minute.' You've got to get all the pieces of the jump together at the right time. That's what scares most people off, and that's what attracts the risk vs. rush crowd. Barring injury, I don't see me stopping anytime soon. I just feel too good doing it."