hello polehopper,
There is a fairly robust group of masters vaulters out there. Sometimes it is just hard to find them. Not to direct you away from MastersTrack.com, but most of us that do communicate online, do it at PoleVaultPower.com which is dedicated solely to pole vaulting. (Sorry Ken
)
Gary Hunter is certainly a masters phenom. I watched him for the first time at outdoor nationals in Charlotte in 2006. But you might be surprised at the quality of other vaulters out there also, including some older than 50. You asked how fast must you be in order jump well. I don't have an answer to that but I know Bud Held is not able to run fast (because of a knee problem which requires him to wear a brace) and yet he vaults very well. At age 78, he jumped 3.0m (9'10") for a new age group WR in May of 2006. His significant other, Nadine O'Conner, set a new age group WR at age 64 by jumping 3.12m (10'2.75") in July 2006. (However, Nadine can and does run fast.)
I certainly would encourage you to get out and take on vaulting again. It has been a fantastic experience for me. I vaulted in HS and college (graduated in 1968) and then didn't vault again until 2003. I was more aggressive than I probably should have been and had 4 significant hamstring "events" within the first 2 years. As Dennis Phillips (M55 US record holder but now 60) told me when I first talked to him on the phone about trying to get back into vaulting, "the vault has a way of finding your body's weakest link". And after you recover from that problem and hopefully remove it from the "weakest" category, the vault will find the current weakest link. From my experience and what I have learned from other masters vaulters, it will take 2 or 3 years for you to get your body "adjusted" so it can take the rigors of the vault such that your weakest link is sufficiently strong that it won't fail with normal jumps.
I don't know what my speed is or how much I can lift or press. My focus has been simply to learn the technique, develop a reasonably strong body, and focus on exercises that are as vault specific as possible. I strongly recommend learning style of vault as presented in Alan Launder's book titled
Begginer to Bubka. If you have a chance, go to a camp where Alan would be coaching and learn from the crusty ol Aussie himself
That's probably enough gab for now. I'll try to check back more frequently and see what you might have to say.
- master