Pace making requirements

If he went through 200 in 32 seconds then 400 in 64 he did his job perfectly. It's not his job to follow himself. Thats up to the other runners.

I agree with other poster. Look at elite pacemakers. They will often go out at the prescribed pace, only to have noone follow, but they still keep the same pace. They will often drop out of the race after reaching their goal and having built up a good lead.

However, if the race was tactical and he was supposed to help pace so that his team could score the most points in championship event, than he would have best served them by setting the pace at the level that they would remain in contention. If he was asked to hit 4:16 pace all they way around, he did his job.

But doesn't it look so much better if the pace maker runs right in front of the other runners so the pack can actually benefit from the pace maker? What's the point of having a pace maker if he/she runs 100m ahead of everybody else?

Cool Running wrote:

But doesn't it look so much better if the pace maker runs right in front of the other runners so the pack can actually benefit from the pace maker? What's the point of having a pace maker if he/she runs 100m ahead of everybody else?

It's the OTHER RUNNERS fault. They are the ones making it look bad. The pacemaker did his/her job. The other runners are probably chicken shits that didn't feel like running hard.

If he did what he was supposed to do, he did nothing wrong.

If second place was 4:21, he was only 5 seconds off the pace -- surely much less than 100m.

If you want the benefit of a pacemaker, then you must follow his pace, not lead him with yours.

Pacemaking is not a show for the audience's entertainment.