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Republished with permission granted by The Washington Newspaper Publishing Co. LLC d/b/a MediaDC. Back to Montgomery Journal articles
Steeplechase Comes to Woodward
By BEN WALKER
This Saturday high school steeplechase racing will make its United States debut - right here in Montgomery County. After seven months of planning and construction, Woodward High School will stage a steeplechase race during its annual spring relays.
Heading up the project is Woodward's assistant track coach, Greg Dunston, who decided to inquire about the possibilities of building the course early in September. Since the cost of the goods and services could have run as high as $1000, Dunston, a math teacher, "asked kids in my classes if they had any access to materials." The students came through better than he had expected as almost all of the needed materials were donated.
Winguard Lumber donated wood for hurdles while the Woodward Booster Club donated cinderblocks for the water pits. Thanks to another student connection, F. O. Day Construction Company is due to lay asphalt free of charge this week.
SO FAR, the total cost of the project has been only $20 for odds and ends such as nails and paint. Once the asphalt has been laid, Woodward will be the proud possessors of the nations first high school steeplechase course.
The main feature of the 1500-meter course will be the 12-foot water pit filled with eight inches of water. Directly in front of the hazard will be a three-foot hurdle which each runner will hope to land on before leaping over the pit. In order that runners who might land on the edge of the water pit will not suffer damage to their ankles and legs, the edge of the pit will slope downward.
As the competitors run the three laps constituting the race, they will pass the water hazard four times in addition to jumping 12 hurdles placed on the course.
Coach Dunston estimates that these hurdles will add "20 to 25 seconds to each runner's mile time."
RUNNERS FROM six area school - Woodward, Churchill, Georgetown Prep, Einstein, B-CC and Kennedy - will participate in the race. Each school will provide two or three runners for the course.
Running the course is strictly voluntary, any runner from the 19 schools entered in the relays who wants to run may do so. So that runners don't kill themselves, Dunston held a meeting on Monday with all of the participants to explain steeplechse running techniques based on his background from college at Cal State in Pennsylvania.
To train for the event, runners must train as they would for any long distance race while also running one half mile of hurdles. This should give them endurance plus the agility required to be a successful steeplechase runner.
Dunston said that he hopes steeplechase catches on and that "everyone will try to improve on our course." He also mentioned that other high schools will be permitted to use the Woodward course after the relays.
In addition to staging an exhibition race during the relays, Dunston hopes to conduct a steeplechase clinic in June featuring a former steeplechase Olympian. As for long range goals, Dunston hopes to be able to use the steeplechase course for cross country next fall "if the county lets us."
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