There are a number of pain-filled track and field disciplines, but none combine to break your heart and body quite as perfectly as the 3000-meter steeplechase.


At the New York State Public High School Athletic Association finals in Cicero, New York, senior John McCarthy of Corning High School was down fifty meters going into the final lap of the seven-lap race. Comfortably out in front was Hilton's Tyler Ranke, who had made his push for home a lap earlier.

But McCarthy, waaaaay back, "finds another gear," the announcer says, and quickly eats up Ranke's lead. As the two enter the final straight, it's all McCarthy, who slips past Ranke unchecked. The only barrier between him and a state title is the final barrier.


Oh, that final barrier.

"When he went down, I almost went down right over him," Ranke, last year's state runner-up, said later. Ranke politely slipped past a prostrate McCarthy, who staggered in for second in his final high school race.

"I feel like I'm living a cliché, actually—to stumble on the final hurdle," McCarthy told the Schreveport Times after his spectacular fall. A sad trombone was heard nearby. "Well, I ran a good 2,990 meters."


Watch the whole race here, and skip to 8:15 for the final lap.