Track: Steeplechase - Sight Line Drill
for Steeplechase Pack Running
Hurdling in a pack presents a unique challenge in the steeplechase event. Being able to maintain concentration amid a sea of flailing limbs is difficult enough. But the runners in the back of a pack may not even be able to see the barriers as they approach them.
Here's the drill that will help your steeplechasers become accustomed to running in the back of a pack and with blocked sight lines to the upcoming barriers.
Sight Line Drill
This drill works best if you have several steeplechasers in your squad. Set up a number of hurdles at steeplechase height and at random locations along the track. Your steeplechaser's will work as a group, running at race-pace, with one runner behind the others as he'd be if running in a pack during a race.
As the pack approaches the first hurdle, the lead runners split off to the side at the last second and run around the hurdle. The trailing runner must hurdle the barrier.
The group then continues on to the next hurdle with one of the lead runners now becoming the trailer, and the trailer becoming one of the lead runners. They continue around the track with the runners switching roles after every hurdle.
Reference: Chuck Hislop, "Steeplechase Technique." ?Weber State, CoachR.com. http://www.coachr.org/msteep.htm
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