THOMPSONVILLE, Mich. - Some people are fiercely driven to compete. They wake up every day and have an "it's-me-against-the-world" approach. No matter what they do, they need to finish on top, or know that they did their best to do so.
Boyd "Bo" Clampitt, 84, admits he's been competitive to the core for as long as he can remember.
"I'm very goal oriented," said Clampitt, whose list of life accomplishments is unmatched. "The word 'average' just isn't in my vocabulary.
"I can't accept 'average.'"
Clampitt grew up in Texas. He spent 20 years in the Air Force, and came out of flight school as a navigator bombardier.
"I've flown fighter jets twice the speed of sound," said Clampitt.
When he turned 39 years old, he retired from the Air Force and entered into a career in law enforcement. Bo became a weapons instructor for the police department in Santa Monica, California.
"I was in charge of six departments, including the presidential protection division of the Secret Service," added Clampitt. "I was able to get to know former President Ronald Reagan on a personal level. He and I used to have breakfast together all the time."
He lives to challenge himself.
"I've hiked the entire 2,000 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail," said Clampitt. "That's walking through 14 states."
Bo has also beaten cancer, not once, but twice in his life.
"I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012," said Clampitt. "I beat it, but it came back five years later, but I'm beating it again.
"Cross your fingers that it remains undetectable for a while."
Bo has also lived most of his life according to a famous quote uttered by former President Theodore Roosevelt in 1910. The quote is entitled, "The Man in the Arena." It reads:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
"I'm the man in the arena," said Clampitt with a wry tone. "I'm there and the only way to get out is to fight your way out."
Clampitt has spent his entire life "in the line of fire," so to speak. Whatever he's done, he's been fearless, willing and able to be on the front line. In 2008, he decided his next big challenge was to climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, which is the tallest mountain in Africa.
19,341 feet above sea level.
"I was 76 years old when I climbed it," said Clampitt. "It took eight days. It was 90 degrees at the bottom when we started the climb and when we reached the top it was 19 degrees below zero.
"The most serious problem most Kilimanjaro climbers have is altitude sickness, due to the air getting thinner and thinner. The key is to climb high and sleep low," he said. "That's probably the easiest way to climatize."
Soon after Clampitt conquered Kilimanjaro, he found out the Guinness Book of World Records kept track of the oldest man and woman to have reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
"I decided I wanted to get that record," said Clampitt. "But I wasn't old enough yet.
"I was almost 80 years old, and found out I wasn't old enough to do something. I used that as motivation."
Bo lives near Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville, Mich., which is located about 25 miles east of Frankfort. He hired Kari Wyse, who is the lead fitness trainer at the resort. She immediately put Bo on an aggressive workout regimen.
"I've been working with Bo now for nine years," said Wyse. "There are people in life that just have a drive that's not like anybody other and Bo is an extreme example of that.
"He never cancels a workout session, and from the very first day he told me, 'Kari, if you're going to be my trainer, I want you to push me and if you're not going to push me, then we're through'."
So, Kari has been pushing Bo on a weekly basis. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Kari has Bo lift weights, and do several rounds of pull-ups and push-ups. Each training session concludes with Kari and Bo heading out to one of the ski hills at Crystal Mountain and they both walk up the face of it.
"Kari gives me homework to do on the days during the week I'm not training with her, and on the weekend days, so I rarely take a day off from preparing," said Clampitt.
On Oct. 2, 2014, Clampitt learned that American Robert Wheeler had just become the oldest man to climb Kilimanjaro. Wheeler was 85 years and 201 days old when he reached the summit.
One year later, on October 29, 2015, Angela Vorobeva, from Russia, became the oldest woman and the oldest personal overall to reach the Kilimanjaro summit. She was 86 years and 267 days old.
"I could do it today, but I can't," said Clampitt. "I'll do it. There's no doubt. I just have to get old."
The date Bo has selected for what he hopes will be his record-setting climb is February 16, 2021.
"That's my 87th birthday," Clampitt said. "I want to have my birthday on the top. I'm going to take an Oreo Cookie and a candle and see if the candle will burn at 19,000 feet."
Two-and-a-half years currently separate Bo from his climb. While he continues to workout, train and stay in shape, he says he will keep an eye on the Guinness Book of World Records website to see if anybody tops the current record. If that happens, he's not worried, and says he'll push the climb date beyond any new records.
"Maybe I'll try for the record at 100 [years old]," said Clampitt. "I'll be ready for it.
"Age doesn't matter to me. For me, crossing the accomplishment off my bucket list is what matters."
It appears Bo will be too young for his climb for at least two years beyond his targeted date in 2021. Dr Fred Distelhorst, a retired orthodontist from Vail, Colorado, claims he reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro on July 20, 2017.
Distelhorst was 88-years-old when he did it.
"Upon further research in our database, I can confirm that Fred Distelhorst has submitted an application, which is currently under review by our Records Management Team," said Rachel Gluck, public relations coordinator for the Guinness Book of World Records. "Any records to our website are at the discretion of our Digital team so unfortunately I cannot confirm whether or not an update will be based, should Fred Distelhorst be the new record-holder
."
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