Collingwood teen discovers athletic passion in 19th-century sport

A Nottawa teen has taken up an old and more obscure track-and-field discipline and he's proving up to the chase as he sets school records in the steeple chase. 

Wesley MacMillan has discovered his own knack for steeplechase, a running sport incorporating five solid barriers and a water pit spaced around a 400-metre track, all of which must be overcome every lap.

Named from an English tradition of racing (originally on horseback, then later on foot) from one church's steeple to the next (and hopping over stone walls along the way), the modern-day event originated at Oxford University in the mid-19th century. The race debuted at the Paris Olympics in 1900. 

MacMillan won a silver medal at the Athletics Ontario Championships in the 2,000-metre steeplechase in July and went on to place fifth at the Legion Youth Nationals in August. He broke his high school steeplechase record and beat his personal best time.

It all started at Collingwood Collegiate Institute (CCI) last spring when he was in Grade 11 and training with the school's track team for the 1,500- and 3,000-metre races.

"The school has two steeples and I tried them out. I really liked it," he said. “Steeplechase brings another skill component along with the running.”

At the Georgian Bay Secondary Schools Assocation's track meet, he won the steeplechase and the 3,000-metre run. He went onto the Central Ontario championships and placed second in steeplechase and fourth in the three-km run. While his results at the Ontario high school championships weren't stellar, he set a school record for steeplechase.

That was the end of the high school track and field season, but MacMillan wasn't done. He trained with the South Simcoe Dufferin Track and Field Club (SSD), out of Barrie.

And he built his own hurdle at home with heavy lumber at the men's regulation height of 36-inches to practice with. He studies Kenyans runners for style and technique.

"The Kenyans are famous for their steeplechase skill. The only country that hurdles (the water steeple) is the Kenyans. Everyone else steps on it," he said.

With SSD, MacMillan competed in steeplechase and the three-km the Athletics Ontario event held at the Terry Fox Track and Field Stadium in Brampton, where he placed second in the U18 steeplechase.

"I got my best time there. I ran a 6:15," said MacMillan.

His time qualified him for the Legion Canada Youth Track and Field Nationals held in Calgary at 1,200 metres of altitude. 

“When you are running at altitude, you are a lot slower because you get less oxygen," said MacMillan.

However, he ended up running his fastest race at 6:14.

“That was really cool to see how much I improved there because a lot of people had gotten slower. I was one of the only ones who had improved on it,” he said.

When he came home, he took a week off but has already re-started running.

“Cross country is the next thing I’m looking forward to. I like cross country because the hills make it more fun to run."

Like track and field, MacMillan will run with both CCI and SSD.

"I find doing the hardest things makes other challenges easier.

“It’s fun to go and hang out with my friends, get a work out and feel good after,”  he said.