All the things that go into distance running -- pace judgement, efficient, economical movements, tactics, ability to run in a pack and a strong finishing kick -- apply to the steeplechase, with the added burden of having to clear hurdles and negotiate a water jump.

"The steeplechase has the same demands of a middle to long distance event," explains CBC track analyst Geoff Gowan, "but there's also the inconvenience of seven water jumps and 28 hurdles by the time you finish. And you have to jump them all and run this whole distance usually in the very cramped conditions inside a pack of runners. You simply can't make a mistake under these conditions."

Running a middle distance or long distance event is taxing enough, but the addition of the hurdles and the water jump make the race seem that much longer.

"I remember speaking to Mexican marathoners who had been steeplechasers, and they told me the marathon's much easier," recalls Canadian steeplechaser and 1999 Pan Am Games gold medallist Joel Bourgeois. "When a race is not going well, these barriers in the last two or three laps can just kill the rest of the race."