Pole vaulters compete at Minneapolis rooftop bar

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - The best pole vaulters took their sport to new heights last weekend at a popular rooftop bar in downtown Minneapolis.

Brit’s Pub hosted their second annual Brit’s Pub Vault competition on the roof of their bar on Sept. 6. The national event brings in amateur and professional competitors who love the sport to the heart of downtown Minneapolis.

"The excitement here is just the setting,” “Mike Reneau, Brit’s Pub Vault organizer Having a track and field meet in the middle of the city is definitely a cool, unique thing.”

The quality of vaulting rivals that of some of the biggest events in the nation, including the U.S. national meet.

However, the rooftop setting in a major American city is unrivaled. The new twist on a traditional pole vaulting competition is a catalyst of changing the old school mentality that seems to follow track and field.

"When it's in a stadium, spectators are distant, and track meets are long they are hard to watch,” Leslie Brost, a professional pole vaulter said. “Events like these that are right there, along the runway, the music is loud. It bridges that gap a sport like track and field that is old, and pure with something like the X Games."

Putting pole vaulting front and center the way Brit’s Pub has done might just be the first step of a huge leap when it comes to track and field in the Twin Cities.  Brost suggested incorporating more track and field events in the future, such as long jumping or triple jumping. 

"We can grow it and keep building the momentum,” Brost said. “That would be something great to see down the road."