On December 1, 2021, at age 70, Dr. John Hunter took up pole vaulting. Again. He hadn’t done it since he was 16, on his high school track team.
John has always been athletic. But as he’s grown older, he’s grown more and more conscious of age itself. And he works hard at reducing the negative effects associated with growing older. “You can’t stop the process of aging,” he says, “but you can slow it down. And exercise is the way to do it. And in particular, vigorous exercise.”
He trains daily. Sprints. Weights. Core work. He does these upside-down crunches on rings or a rope that few people half his age would even consider attempting. And once a week he makes the 2-hour drive to New Iberia, LA to train with a top pole-vaulting coach.
In pole vaulting, John has reconnected with the idea and allure of playing – something many adults seem to think they’re supposed to have outgrown. John says play is good for you.
In his quest for sustained youth, John has done power-lifting and won championships. He’s been a runner, doing 5Ks, 10Ks, marathons. He’s enjoyed the sense of accomplishment – the deep feeling of satisfaction – that such successes bring. But they are not enjoyable. In fact, they can be just plain brutal on the body. “You suffer when you’re running a marathon,” he says. “But pole vaulting is actually fun. That’s what keeps you wanting to come back.”
The sport is much more than physical. It is intensely technical, and therein lies another of John’s keys to lasting youth: constant learning. He admits that age can limit what you can accomplish physically. But, he says, the brain can always learn new things. And learning to pole vault again, learning the new techniques, understanding how to protect a body that’s not 16 anymore – all these things add up to another level of engagement in John’s push-back against the popular notions of what getting older looks like.
Dr. John Hunter keeps pushing. He keeps reminding and inspiring us to find our own ways to win our own contests with time. That’s why we honor John Hunter as a Peoples Health Champion.
