I was watching the men's steeplechase on TV and they got to the first barrier in 6 seconds which means it was only about 40m into the race.
I don't steeple, I don't coach it, and I'm definitely no expert in it, but I thought that the runner ran for half a lap or more before they reached the first barrier. Maybe it's just another way to run the event. I thought it didn't matter whether the water jump was inside/outside the turn.
Am I dumb or did they screw up?
If the water jump is outside of the track, then they may only run a very short distance before the first barrier. Perfectly legal, but most venues seem to be going with the inside water jump to make a longer run up before the first barrier. A bit safer for all involved.
Alright. I guess I had only seem races with the water on the inside so it seemed strange. I didn't know it would change the the start as well
Regardless of position of barrier, the first hurdle comes immediately after you cross the finish line the first time. Outside water jump causes each lap to be longer than 400 meters, so the 3000 meter race ends up slightly shy of 7 laps. Inside water jumps cause each lap to be just shy of 400 meters, so the 3000 meter race ends up closer to the traditional 7.5 lap race.
Error. You remove the first barrier until the second lap.
Great, so there's still some discussion going. I thought I spotted an obvious error, but if the guys in the race, coaches, spectators, and officials all saw no problem with it, I'm assuming it was quite alright. I wasn't about to sit there and count total barriers for the entire race, though.
They made a mistake and everyone ran over an extra barrier. Better than at Oregon where 2 times in past few years they have failed to put a barrier on soon enough, leaving the runners a barrier shy of minimum and thus the race is not eligible for qualifying purposes.
Not an error. The first barrier always comes after the finishline with seven laps to go.
Well crap. That seems like a great way to go have a spill with several people on a crowded barrier.
When in doubt, go to the book.
The Steeplechase -
"There shall be 28 hurdle jumps and seven water jumps included
in the 3,000-meter event."
"The distance from the starting point to the finish
line on the first lap shall not include any jumps."
"It should be kept
in mind that there must be enough distance from the starting line to the first
hurdle to prevent the competitors from overcrowding,"
In order to ensure 28 jumps total, with the water pit on the outside, they have to have the first jump right after the finish line and not wait Xmeters till the first hurdle.
This is correct. Notice that 1 barrier is always about a meter longer than the others. The longer barrier should be the first jump, since they will likely still be bunched up. Especially when an outside water jump is used.
Im not sure any of you are right unless I'm reading the responses wrong. The distance per lap of a 3000m steeple with an outside water jump is about 420m. So the race is not short of 7 laps. It's slightly over 7 laps (60m). Yes, you pass the finish before the first barrier. So the first barrier is about 70m from the start. It may have appeared that it was shorter than that to the observer. The end result is 3000m 7 water jumps and 28 hurdles. Am I missing something here?
This is almost right. Even with an outside water barrier the race is still a little longer than 7 laps. The start line ends up being in the home stretch, about 50m from the finish line. So yes, you have a very, very short run to the first barrier sortly after you cross the finish line with 7 laps to go.I've never heard of a water jump so far outside the track that it causes the race to be less than 7 laps! I think that's nonsense.
Steepler a while back wrote:
Regardless of position of barrier, the first hurdle comes immediately after you cross the finish line the first time. Outside water jump causes each lap to be longer than 400 meters, so the 3000 meter race ends up slightly shy of 7 laps. Inside water jumps cause each lap to be just shy of 400 meters, so the 3000 meter race ends up closer to the traditional 7.5 lap race.
ray wrote:
Im not sure any of you are right unless I'm reading the responses wrong.
The correct answer has been posted many times. It is not rocket science.
You're correct. I re-read my post and saw that I put "shy" of 7 laps. It should have been "slightly longer" than 7 laps. My home track had an outside water jump and the race started near the middle of the home stretch.
The strangest setup for steeple I've experienced was Penn. weird position of the water.
malmo wrote:
ray wrote:Im not sure any of you are right unless I'm reading the responses wrong.
The correct answer has been posted many times. It is not rocket science.
Unfortunately it wasn't posted many times in this thread and apparently many here think it is rocket science. Malmo you should know better.
Think of it like this:
With an inside water jump, a shorter lap, the barriers are spaced closer together.
With an outside water jump, a longer lap, they are spread further apart.
With an inside barrier, you have a longer run up to the first barrier and then the barriers come up quickly.
With an oustide barrier, you have a short run up to the first barrier and then a longer run between barriers after that.
Please tell me this is a joke.
* wrote:
With an oustide barrier, you have a short run up to the first barrier and then a longer run between barriers after that.
Question for actual steeple runners...preferred set-up, inside or outside water barrier?
For reference, here's a video of the 3000SC from Texas last year, which was done the same way-
http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=60&do=videos&video_id=62674
The starting line is right before the finish line, which is right before the 1st barrier.