I have no idea why . . . but when I was 14 years old, I decided one summer day that I wanted to learn to pole vault. I had no pole or any money to buy one, so I scrounged around and found an alternative . . . a 10-foot section of a steel TV antenna. Yes, it was heavy, but I figured that it would not break and it would also increase my arm strength, which an athlete needs to be a great vaulter.
Two years later I was a member of the high school track team. Running was not my cup of tea. Every afternoon the coach made the track team run . . . starting at the school, through town to Empire Gas (now the mini-mart), around SR 47, and back past Greenlawn cemetery to the school . .
