Issaquah’s Crittenden hopes to leap into world record books at 60

Published 12:57 pm Monday, April 5, 2010

For Jim Crittenden, age is simply a number.

“I still feel like a youngster,” the 60-year-old Issaquah resident said.

And, it’s with that attitude, Crittenden has his eyes set on a piece of history.

This July, he will attempt to break the world record in the long jump when he competes in the 2010 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif.

The current world record for men aged 60-64 is held by American Tom Patsalis. His jump of 19 feet, 10 1/2 inches was set nearly 28 years ago, in 1982.

“If I can get the world record that will be impressive,” Crittenden said. “That’s one of the oldest standing world records in the Master’s Division.”

The reasons for Crittenden’s drive go far beyond athletic achievements, however.

A once nationally-ranked high school track and field athlete at Richland High School in the Tri Cities, Crittenden only decided to get back into the sport six years ago.

The decision wasn’t on a whim, however. After the difficult loss of his oldest son, he needed somewhere to focus his energy. The tragedy pushed Crittenden to compete in his first ever national Masters competition in 2005. There, he grabbed a gold medal in the long jump as the top athlete in his age group in the nation. He has continued to set Washington state records in the 55-59 year old age group for the long jump, triple jump, high jump, standing long jump.

When grief struck Crittenden last summer with the passing of his father, he did what came natural — again opting to push himself to the brink.

“The drive came from the not so unique discovery that life isn’t permanent,” he said. “So, those traumas in my life were enough to say, it’s never going to get easier.”

Working out on his own, Crittenden knew he’d have to push himself even harder if he wanted to reach his ultimate goal. He approached several training facilities in there area, but when he stumbled across Fitness Together Issaquah, and owner Juliana Jade, there was an immediate connection.

“I had cancer last year and I was thinking about Jim’s situation and I really felt moved by what he wanted to accomplish,” Jade said. “I decided why not help him out with that, so we offered him a sponsorship.”

The last two months Crittenden has attended Fitness Together, where as part of his sponsorship, he’s receives one training session a week, nutritional guidance, along with advice for training on his own.

“Seeing somebody who’s 60 and wants to go beyond the ordinary, that’s a strong mind that guides it, and we hope to provide some motivation on a weekly basis that will keep it going,” Jade said.

Crittenden, who has lived in Issaquah the last 35 years, works with his trainer every Friday doing a variety of weight and conditioning exercises, along with drills that focus on the explosiveness of long jumping. He won’t, however, make an official leap until he attends the Master’s Track and Field Championships, July 22-25.

“If I were 20 it would be different, but at my age I’m concerned about any kind of musculature tear or joint issues,” Crittenden said.

An experienced jumper, Crittenden isn’t concerned about not getting the practice in the long jump pit. He has his take off mark down to exactly 64 feet, 5 inches. He knows he has to run at seven-eighths of his full speed. And when he approaches the board, he knows how to explode forward with all his momentum.

With recent jumps going over 18 feet, and a couple of scratched jumps going into the 19-foot range, Crittenden likes his chances at grabbing a new world record.

“I feel free pretty confident that I can go and get a gold medal, but that’s not why I’m going,” he said. “I want the big one.”