The Steeplechase

Mid A 15 · Post by **Mid A 15** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:21 pm

Do they still do it?

Did anybody (other than the winners) actually enjoy it?

I remember slipping and sliding going up that blooming hilly field (Sharpenhurst?) leading to Itchingfield Churchyard. Guess you felt a sense of achievement at getting round though.

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:38 pm

They did when i was at CH (until 1999) but I believe they now have to do the steeplechase within the school grounds or something as it was too dangerous to riun on the roads...

The hill up to Itchingfield isn't Sharpenhurst - thet's the one with the resevior on top...

Mrs C. · Post by **Mrs C.** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:40 pm

Nowadays the good runners do the steeplechase, the rest do a "FUN RUN" round Bigside.

FUN???? Well, maybe..........

J.R. · Post by **J.R.** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:43 pm

Mrs C. wrote:Nowadays the good runners do the steeplechase, the rest do a "FUN RUN" round Bigside.
FUN???? Well, maybe..........

That's not a Run !!!!!

Nothing more than a pre football training warm up.

DavebytheSea · Post by **DavebytheSea** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:56 pm

Has CH never done cross country running? Jonathan's younger brother Oliver (aged 12) is quite anxious to go to CH as a New Dep when the time comes but he has never seen any teams from Housie at any of the national finals. (His team of four boys are currently AAA SW champions and always make every national final, hammering Millfield and other high profile sporting schools on each and every occasion). He also runs for Cornwall known for its cross country athletes as well as for its rugby.

Running up hills like Sharpenhurst is his speciality particularly when it is blowing a gale and pouring with rain. He trains four times a week never doing less than 4000 metres. Are they not tough enough at Housie these days?

Come on, Christ's Hospital! Penair 11-16 Comprehensive School would welcome a challenge. They are used to travel and would come up like a shot! They will happily beat any under 13 and under 15 team whether girls or boys - Sharpenhurst or not!!

mr tall · Post by **mr tall** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 7:27 pm

Aw, come on!
The steeplechase was just torture and preceeded by that famous invention, the Hare and Hounds. When the juniors were sent off early and had to run round the given course. Evweryone knew that the seniors would meet the juniors in that particularly horrible and muddy bit through Shelley's Wood. Once they had met, the seniors would push and pull the jumiors through all that peculiar yellow mud, liberally mixed with rotting vegetation and then return to the house and regale their chums with stories of their prowess in humiliating younger boys.
That was the fun of CH wasn't it?

sejintenej · Post by **sejintenej** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 8:47 pm

DavebytheSea wrote:Has CH never done cross country running?

Running up hills like Sharpenhurst is his speciality particularly when it is blowing a gale and pouring with rain. He trains four times a week never doing less than 4000 metres. Are they not tough enough at Housie these days?

!

Certainly we had the torture known as the steeplechase and there was some smart alec (never got spoken to after) who was possibly the first boy whose parents could afford cross country shoes (the rest of us used to use gym shoes) so he could win. That was either Lamb A or Col B.
Before the race we had to have a medical from Dr Scott. Sharpenhurst (over the level crossing and straight up) and 30 minutes later back down through Shelley Wood - yeuch. As for pupils being run over by trains or cars - too bad if they were stupid enough to get in the way. (I do recall one year when somebody had the nerve to gain a couple of hundred yards by a late dash across the level crossing)

As for Mrs C's "Fun Run" round Big Side, that was a standard punishment!

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 10:30 am

I remember successfully booking a driving lesson on my Grecians over the steeplechase day so I didn't have to do the run!

Richard Ruck · Post by **Richard Ruck** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 12:04 pm

The steeplechase was horrible.

No cross-country running all year, then suddenly we were expected to stumble around some muddy fields for a while, then learn that some tiny skinny bloke who didn't smoke had collected the trophy about 20 minutes before you wobbled over the line to the ironic cheers of any remaining spectators.

Not an activity for any self-respecting rugby forward.

shoz · Post by **shoz** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 12:37 pm

Is/was the Steeplechase an official school event or some kind of initiation for the benefit of the seiors?

DavebytheSea · Post by **DavebytheSea** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 12:49 pm

From the CH Official Website.

"Other activities include Badminton, Volleyball, Judo, Aerobics, Weight training, Cross-country, Trampolining and many others."

So! Who has responsibility for it? Why cannot the school reach a national level of competition?

Cross country running seems ideally suited to the school's ethos; it requires little specialised kit (running shoes), it does not need specially maintained pitches, it can be practised in all weathers, it engenders excellent health and fitness and above all stimulates the development of personal courage and determination.

Come on Housie! Meet the challenge!

Mid A 15 · Post by **Mid A 15** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 12:52 pm

shoz wrote:Is/was the Steeplechase an official school event or some kind of initiation for the benefit of the seiors?

It was an inter house cross country race(s) (junior, intermediate, senior) held annually in the Lent Term. Mr Tall may well be referring to training for the event which those that aspired to win it did. The rest of us were just grateful to get round!

Do / did the girls do it after the merger?

Was there a similar event in the Hertford days?

Mid A 15 · Post by **Mid A 15** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 12:57 pm

DavebytheSea wrote:From the CH Official Website.

"Other activities include Badminton, Volleyball, Judo, Aerobics, Weight training, Cross-country, Trampolining and many others."

So! Who has responsibility for it? Why cannot the school reach a national level of competition?

Cross country running seems ideally suited to the school's ethos; it requires little specialised kit (running shoes), it does not need specially maintained pitches, it can be practised in all weathers, it engenders excellent health and fitness and above all stimulates the development of personal courage and determination.

Come on Housie! Meet the challenge!

Running shoes? What are they? Plimsolls / gym shoes when I was young! Half the reason it was difficult!!

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:30 pm

Mid A 15 wrote:
shoz wrote:Is/was the Steeplechase an official school event or some kind of initiation for the benefit of the seiors?
It was an inter house cross country race(s) (junior, intermediate, senior) held annually in the Lent Term. Mr Tall may well be referring to training for the event which those that aspired to win it did. The rest of us were just grateful to get round!

Do / did the girls do it after the merger?

Was there a similar event in the Hertford days?

The girls have their own race...

sejintenej · Post by **sejintenej** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 11:40 pm

Richard Ruck wrote:The steeplechase was horrible.

No cross-country running all year, then suddenly we were expected to stumble around some muddy fields for a while, then learn that some tiny skinny bloke who didn't smoke had collected the trophy about 20 minutes before you wobbled over the line to the ironic cheers of any remaining spectators.

Not an activity for any self-respecting rugby forward.

You lucky so-'n-so. We had it at least once a week in the two winter terms though the race was generally only half the normal distance. However, if there was too much ice on the fields to play rugby we would have yet another crosscountry.
(We usually went at least beyond Barns Green and I remember on occasion runing down the main street in Billingshurst - how far is that?) I had breathing problems then and it has been in the last 3 months that "they" have found out how to control it; so much for medical fitness!.