Steeplechasing for Fun and Profit?
By John Pelton
Some of the beauties of being a runner for fitness and pleasure have to do
with the options available. If you don't like running or racing on the roads,
there is always the track or the trails. Maybe the track bored you in high
school and you have found freedom and a comfortable place on the roads. At
least living in this part of the country means relatively little vehicular
traffic to cope with. To be really alone with nature, and away from all the
modern noise, the trails are a marvelous and serene place to run. As the seasons
change, many different and exciting challenges beckon, maybe cross country
or running on snowshoes. And the best part of it all, you can do a great workout,
inexpensively, relatively close to home, in an hour or less, without monkeying
with a lot of sometimes troublesome equipment.
Personally, I have found that, despite being at this game for over twenty-five
years, I am finding something new over the horizon. Last year, 2001, I went
to Baton Rouge, LA, at L.S.U. for the National Senior Games, which were followed
closely by the USATF National Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Unlike the senior games, which require qualification in the year prior to
the games, and a minimum age of fifty, the masters event is open to anyone
thirty or over. The senior games involve competition in many sports while
the masters events are only on the track.
At the senior games I had done four events in twenty-four hours-10K road race,
800 and 1500 on the track and 5K road race and I was looking for some interesting,
not quite as closely scheduled events in the masters. So, I decided on the
10K on the track and the steeplechase-an entirely new event for me. After
all, I had played a lot of basketball in the past, and despite having what
they call "white man's disease", could still jump a little, or so
I thought.
I can remember watching the steeplechase in the Olympic Games over the years
and marveling at the athletes endurance and speed over the barriers. For those
not acquainted with the event, there are five twelve-foot-wide barriers every
eighty meters on the track. For men up to age sixty, they are 36" high.
For women and men sixty and over, the barriers are 30". One of the barriers
is immediately in front of a twelve-foot water pit, where the water is deepest
at the barrier and gradually becomes more shallow. The idea at the water pit
is to step on the barrier, jump off, land with one foot in the water and step
out onto the track. At the other barriers the most efficient way is to hurdle
the barrier. It is advisable that the athlete become proficient at hurdling
off both feet so that you don't have to adjust your stride as you approach
the barrier. The length of the race is 3000 meters for men under sixty and
2000 meters for women and sixty-plus men. It is legal to step on all the barriers
if you wish, or even put your hands on them and straddle the four-inch-wide
beam, but certainly not the fastest way. So, in the steeplechase, there is
a premium on being able to jump as you become more tired.
I did not have the opportunity to practice before my first attempt at the
event last July. When I lined up with the ten or so other competitors my plans
were to step on every barrier, which I was able to do. As the race evolved
I was able to move into the lead, which was helpful because I could concentrate
on each barrier and not be distracted by the runners near me. My wife, Marian,
took the camera to the water pit area, no doubt planning on catching the inevitable
face-plant in the water. However, she was to be disappointed (?), as I managed
to navigate the course, finishing first overall in 8:09.33. I found out later
that this time is apparently a USATF record, (by .32 secs.), since the race
was shortened to 2000 meters for the sixties four years, or so, ago.
This year I was planning on doing some practicing before and running the National
Outdoor T & F Championships at the University of Maine in August. I did
find a steeplechase at the North Carolina State University in May which offered
a $100.00 prize for the best age-graded performance by a man or woman. I was
able to prepare and compete on a cool, rainy day, the only man in my age-group,
finishing in 8:12.60, which age-graded to 84.05%. However, a sixty-year-old
woman, Marie Michelson, ran the same race in 9:17.00, age-grading to 88.91%,
really an outstanding performance, and beating me convincingly! I was able
to jump most of the barriers, so it was really a better technical performance
than last July.
Before the nationals in August, I am focusing on the USATF Eastern Masters
Regional T&F Championships at Springfield College on Friday, July 26.
Thanks to Mt. Anthony Union track and field coaches, Kathleen Newton and Bob
Kurtzner for giving me some used hurdles, which needed repair, but work fine
for me. I am confident that I can beat my best time as I become more skillful.
Also,. I obtained a great video by Doug Brown, track and cross country coach
at The University of Florida, a former Olympian, which has been very helpful
showing drills and workout plans. The workouts are getting tougher however;
Marian has told me that I must get the hurdles out of the living room.
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