How bad would it be to lead a 2:30 pace group for a half marathon?

i almost took a 2:00 pacing job until i tried to run a 10 miler at that pace with to the second splits, and it was horrible. i can't imagine 2:30 pace.

i've tried to pace stuff to the second at 6:30 pace on a track. even there, pace is going all over the place (+/- 10 seconds easily). can't imagine 11 min pace

That seems very difficult and would take some serious practice to get my stride length and frequency that low.

It would be okay if you could control the walking breaks.

Let me get this straight. You're providing a service for their customers, and for this they give you the privilege of not paying an entry fee? Or is it an entry into another race?

It's actually through a local running store. They provide the entry and an outfit, you provide the pacing services.

slow pacer wrote:

It's actually through a local running store. They provide the entry and an outfit, you provide the pacing services.

I own a restaurant. If you cook all day for no money, I'll let you into the kitchen for free and give you a uniform to wear.

you will want to shoot yourself before the end.

I'm at 73-min half guy. Last summer I woke up the day after a hard race and said "good god I'm tired, I think I'm going to go really slow for my recovery run today". My wife said "good! you can do my long run with me!"

We ran 14 miles at 9 minute mile pace and I almost killed myself afterwards.

Don't do it! As a fellow guy around 1:20 for the half, I paced a 1:45 group once and that was mentally tough. Faster than my normal easy run pace, a little quicker than a recovery shuffle. I don't hit 8 minute mile pace for long stretches in training.

Pacing is fun, it's a good chance to give back to the sport.

More generally, I think one can realistically volunteer to pace a half marathon at marathon pace or slower. Closer to your own race pace you are, the riskier it is!

If you're going to do it, I do recommend going out and practicing a run through (or two) at that pace for a good length of time (10k? No need to go all 21km)

Ghola wrote:

Let me get this straight. You're providing a service for their customers, and for this they give you the privilege of not paying an entry fee? Or is it an entry into another race?

I think the advertisement might be for "experienced" half marathoners who have run a number around 2:15-2:30. This would allow them to "race" again without paying an entry fee.

I knew a guy who did his long runs at 10:00-11:00 pace for 4-5 hours with a learn to run clinic. He ran 1:07 for the half during that time period.

My best half marathon is 1:21. I was a few minutes slower than that when I ran a 2:50 half marathon with my girlfriend two years ago. No, my girlfriend is not that slow, she's a 25-minute 5k runner who thought it would be interesting to try a half without having run in 3-4 months. She still runs and races, but hasn't done another half since.

I train very slowly anyway, most of my runs are at around 8:30-9:00/mile when I race a 5k at just under 6:00/mile, so it didn't bother me too much. It was hard work to run for three hours, but other than that, it wasn't too bad.

For somebody who typically runs easy days at a quick pace, it might be annoying, but for me it was no big deal. I run and ran with much slower people all the time (they're called friends) so I was used to it.

When you are a pacer, you're a volunteer helping other people. You'll probably help some people who have never run a half marathon finish their first. If you want to do that, go ahead, but I don't really see the point of taking a free entry just to work for somebody else.

I enjoy pacing, but it needs to be at a pace I can run comfortably. I'm a 2:50 marathoner (6:30 pace), and I've paced 3:15 and 3:10 marathons. 3:15 (7:26 pace) is perfect for me. It's close to my most efficient pace, and I can just relax and enjoy running and helping folks. I wouldn't voluntarily choose to pace any slower than 3:20, and I'm not sure I could pace slower than 3:40. That's much slower than I ever run except for short distances.

So you will have a pack of waddlers that need babysitting. Most have been enrolled in some type of Fleet Feet sponsored waddler program. They will come decked out in high end motion control shoes AND orthotics. Most will have a six bottle fuel belt, first name scrawled on their shirt and the majority will be wearing spandex shorts stretched to the max over their very wide hips and fat ass.

They normally need to stop at the every porta john they come across and relish the screams from family members waving signs "you can do it!"

You will start with a very large pack which diminishes rapidly every quarter mile, it thins out even more at the GU stations where they stop to carbo-load and chat. You might even get a few who actually stop and dance to the delight of the crowd at the music spots.