The steeplechase harks back to the simpler times of the 18th century when towns actually had steeples and competitors raced each other on horseback from one steeple to the next, jumping over creeks and low walls along the way.
Three hundred years later, the modern steeplechase involves a rubber running track, artificial hurdles, and a pit of water all spread out over 3,000m.
Long-legged athletes such as Oregon redshirt sophomore Chris Winter now prance over these obstacles sans the horses that carried the steeplechasers in the Enlightenment.
“It’s just a little more challenging, and it takes a bit of a stronger runner than the other distance events,” Winter said. “I just like the difference it presents. It’s not just laps. There’s a lot more to it.”
Winter placed fourth in the steeplechase in the Pacific-10 Conference championships two weekends ago, and put up a new personal best in the process. His time of 8:51.62 ranks seventh in the region and 22nd nationally, and Winter is eager to improve that performance this weekend at the West Regional Championships.
“At the beginning of the season, I started off kinda slow, and I didn’t really have the performances I wanted to,” Winter said. “But last weekend, things all came together.
“Last year, I was on the cusp for making Nationals in steeplechase. I want to make it this year, and with West Regionals at home this weekend there’s is no better chance to try and qualify.”
Winter is the only active steeplechaser on the Oregon roster at the moment, and the 6-foot-1 Canadian trains under the tutelage of Oregon Director of Track and Field Vin Lananna.
“The steeplechase is actually one of my favorite events because it combines conditioning and fitness with a good amount of skill,” said Lananna, a long-distance specialist by trade. “Everyone else on my staff gets an opportunity to work with all these skillful individual athletes in the hammer and the javelin and the hurdles, and I usually just help people make left turns.
“So it’s good to help with something else Chris has to do in the event as opposed to just running.”
Lananna says he coaches Winter for the steeplechase as he would coach a runner preparing for a mid-distance hurdles race.
“I look at it as being a 5k or 3k run with obstacles in the way,” Lananna said. “It’s a hurdles race, so I would coach that the same way I would coach the 400m hurdles, yet you need to be aerobically fit to handle the 3,000m.”
With four hurdles and one water pit on every lap, the steeplechase is more technical than your average distance race. Winter and Lananna break down the race together before every meet.
“The first lap is important to think about,” Winter said. “We break it up kilometer by kilometer and by time and distance goals. I’ll take a look at my splits every now and then too. You’re kind of paying attention to the clock, but you can’t let that rule the race.”
Winter grew up in North Vancouver, B.C. and started running track when he was 10 years old. It soon became evident that he had a knack for distance running.
“It’s always been distance running for me,” Winter said. “It’s always tended to be the longer the distance, the better, and the faster I was.”
The legacy of Oregon distance great Steve Prefontaine found its way to Canada, and Winter grew up watching the Prefontaine movies and absorbing the rich tradition of Oregon track and field.
So when it came time to decide where to go to college, Winter was naturally drawn to the idea of being a Duck.
“I looked around, took visits to a bunch of different schools, and I felt like this was the right place. There’s not really a better place to compete than here,” he said.
The other factor that drew Winter south was the knowledge that the level of coaching he would receive was much higher than what he’d find in Canada.
“Sports is very different in Canada. There’s just not the opportunities for competition and training, and just not as much money involved in sports,” Winter said.
Still, he hasn’t abandoned his Canadian roots.
Winter hopes to one day compete in the Olympics as part of the Canadian national team. He’s also a hockey fan – even though he says his team, the Vancouver Canucks, consistently disappoint.
“They’ve let me down every year,” Winter said. “They always make the playoffs, but we’ve never won the Stanley Cup.”
Besides hockey and the Canucks, the other thing Winter swears the Canadians do better involves baked goods.
“The best thing about home is the Tim Horton doughnuts,” he said, grinning. “They’re Dunkin’ Donuts Canadian style.”
In Winter’s book, even the legendary Krispy Kreme franchise can’t hold a candle to the fabled Tim Hortons doughnuts.
“I’ve had the Krispy Kremes, but personally I like my Tim Hortons better,” said Winter.
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