Run gently from damaged pole (4)
I believe the answer is:
lope
'run gently' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'damaged pole' is the wordplay.
'damaged' indicates anagramming the letters.
'pole' is an anagram of 'LOPE'.
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for lope that I've seen before include "Run boundingly" , "Slow pace" , "Run with long strides using pole" , "Canter" , "Move with a long bounding stride" .)