Steeplechase (athletics)

[12] The following year they had a very similar meeting where the steeplechase is described as being "about a mile," but the winner took a mere "three minutes and a half," suggesting that these details are not correct.

The earliest known foot race that was both called a steeplechase and had a water obstacle took place on 24 July 1829, on the banks of the river Leithen, about twenty-five miles from Edinburgh, at the St Ronan's Border Games.

[19] They also had three foot races, 500 yards, 1 mile, and a steeplechase of unknown length won by James Waugh from Toftholm in Liddesdale.

There was a fair proportion of stone walls, and hedges, as well as the river, and rising and falling ground, and all was cleared in fine style".

[27] In August that year, on the other side of Canterbury, near Whitehall Dyke, there was a steeplechase on a more lavish scale, with fireworks, and prizes, and a band, and a signal gun for the start, and tents serving refreshments to the three thousand spectators who turned up to watch the runners swim the River Stour, four feet deep at that point.

This time fourteen runners negotiated twenty leaps, over "rather more than a mile", and the winner was Henry Friar (Harbledown) in 8:15, earning a prize of three pounds.

There were at least a dozen steeplechases held in places as far apart as Innerleithen and Roslin in Scotland, Edgbaston near Birmingham, Midsomer Norton in Somerset and Mottisfont in Hampshire.

At Birkenhead on the 1st April, seventeen men ran one mile and a half "over a sporting country" in front of a small crowd.

[39][40] Then on Good Friday, at the Wooler Gymnastic Games in Northumberland, Anthony Dag cleared 10 feet (3.05 m) in the standing long jump and 40 ft (12.19 m) in the triple jump, then three shepherds running barefoot contested a steeplechase of one mile for a new hat, "over bog, moor, dyke, and whin, directly up the face of a hill".

[41] The same day, at Blandy's Farm, on the Bath Road near Worcester, seventeen men dressed as horse racing jockeys ran a "steeple match" of about a mile with eight jumps in six minutes.

[42] The following day, ten men similarly attired "crossed many ditches, a beck and a rivulet", in front of "vast numbers" of spectators at Driffield, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

[46] And the day ended with a steeplechase at Newark, where 3,000 spectators watched six young men run a mile and a half including a crossing of the River Trent, "full 20 feet wide".

At the first AAA Championships in 1880 the steeplechase was run over 1 mile and 1,440 yards and won by James Concannon of Widnes Football Club.

On 15 July, six men lined up for a 2,500 metres steeplechase with a water jump, hurdles, and stone fences on each of five laps of the Croix Catelan track in Paris.

[55] The following day they faced eight laps of the same course for a 4,000 metres steeplechase won by John Rimmer (Great Britain) who led from start to finish.

[56] They had further races at different distances in 1904 and 1908 and the event was first held over 3000 metres at the 1920 games in Antwerp, when the winner, in 10:00.4, was Percy Hodge of Great Britain.

[59] The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) introduced a 2 miles steeplechase in 1948, the first winner, in 9:25.7, being Browning Ross (Villanova).

Due to variations in the size, number, and spacing of the hurdles, and the size and position of the water jump, performances before 1954 are not comparable, but the first man under ten minutes was Josef Ternström of Sweden who ran 9:49.8 at Malmö on 4 July 1914, the first man under nine minutes was Erik Elmsäter of Sweden who ran 8:59.6 in Stockholm on 4 August 1944.

At a senior level, women's steeplechase started in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, with early races over 2000 metres taking place in Kyiv, Gorkiy, and Vilnius.

Argentina (Verónica Páez), Australia (Melissa Rollison), Canada (Karen Harvey), Poland (Justyna Bąk), and Russia (Yelena Motalova) all had a women's 3000 metres steeplechase championship in 1999.

Daniela Petrescu (Romania) was the first woman under ten minutes, running 9:55.3 at Bucharest on 20 June 1998 and by the end of the century the best time was 9:48.9 to Yelena Motalova of Russia at Tula on 31 July 1999.

Finland (Johanna Risku), France (Céline Rajot), New Zealand (Rachel Penney) and Norway (Susanne Wigene) all held women's 3000 metres championships in 2000.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) adopted the women's event in 2001, the first winner, in 9:49.73, was Elizabeth Jackson of Brigham Young University.