1889 October | November 2018

mind + body
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Philip Milliman
pole vaults during a practice. The Millimans
participate in Senior Games track and field.
Charles Milliman gets ready to attempt a jump.
Keeping It in the Family
Father-son pole-vaulting duo aim to inspire
written by Viki Eierdam
A POLE VAULTER since high school, Philip Milliman heard
about the Washington Senior Games in 2003. He and his father,
Charles, have attended ever since. In 2017, at the ages of 66 and
84 respectively, they took gold in their age categories for pole
vaulting at the National Senior Games in Birmingham, Alabama.
Charles also walked away with a gold in the high jump.
Charles Milliman is pragmatic about it all. A retired minister
who felt a call to ministry when he was working for Boeing in
the 1960s, he competes in six track-and-field categories.
“I just do it within my own ability. I enjoy competition but it’s
mostly to see what I can do,” he said. “Some events I come in
seventh or eighth place. It’s not the winning. It’s the finding out
what I can do.”
He took up endurance running on his 78th birthday, running
three marathons in three days to equal his age and donating
money raised to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic
Peninsula. He repeated the endurance goal for his 80th birthday
and his 85th, donating money to charities each time.
The senior Milliman has been training for marathons since
he was 39. He found he could lose his mind in running, and
its ability to drastically reduce stress levels has kept him a fan
ever since. With sixty-seven marathons under his belt, he’s still
finishing in under seven hours.
“The main benefit (of staying active) is the wholeness of life,”
he said. “You can do more at an older age when you’re physically,
spiritually and mentally fit.”
As a volunteer pole vaulting coach at Sequim High School, Philip
Milliman’s enthusiasm for physical activity is equally inspiring.
“In some ways, Dad and I aren’t normal, but we think of
ourselves that way,” he said. “We strongly believe in bringing
others along for the ride, being excited about it, moving until
you drop. It’s never about beating someone else. It’s about
beating yourself or being the best you can.”
Philip Milliman remembers that after church on Sundays
when he was growing up, his folks would suggest a hike in the
mountains instead of the less active pursuits his friends were
engaged in. Today they invite others to hike portions of the 130-
mile Olympic Discovery Trail as they complete it in segments.
It seems to be a Milliman motto: “I’m never comfortable just
sitting down,” Philip said.
32 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE OCTOBER | NOVEMBER 2018