Anyone ever been a pacer?

Yes, I have. For myself, it makes me more nervous than when racing for me alone as you've got a group of people relying on you to hit the correct paces and get them to their goal.

Worthwhile experience though.

Not only have I paced numerous marathons, I am also in charge of organizing all of the pacers for the Portland (OR.) Marathon.

Send me your email if you want to chat about marathon/half-marathon pacing.

I paced the 3h group at CIM. I was in 2:30 shape at the time. I remember 4 things;

1) It was easier than I expected to run the distance, but then, it wasn't unusual for me to run 22-23M mostly at

Is there some reason people can't use their bloody watch to pace themselves?

801 dude wrote:

Is there some reason people can't use their bloody watch to pace themselves?

Of course you can but it is much easier to run with (behind) a big pace group. My first marathon I had been back running only a short time (18 years off) and my longest run was 13 miles. I was with the 3:15 group and had about 50 people at the half. All I had to do was run along and have a good time. At 18 miles I went ahead and finished in 3:11. I only had to think about my effort the last 8 miles instead of the whole 26.

801 dude wrote:

Is there some reason people can't use their bloody watch to pace themselves?

If you're going to go that far, why even run the organized race in the first place? Is there some reason why people can't run 26.2 by themselves with the help of their watch?

I have been a pacer on the track.

My highlight was rabbitting for Morceli.

The best part is that I have a picture in a brochure that reads that I was leading world record holder Noureddine Morceli.

It feels much different than running a race.

You have to be running within yourself and even pace and the fatigue sets in in a different way. And that's where judging pace vs. effort gets tricky.

I assume it is similar in long races.

Certainly would be a good use of a long run. Especially if the race organizer is throwing some $$$ your way to do it.

toro wrote:

I have been a pacer on the track.

My highlight was rabbitting for Morceli.

The best part is that I have a picture in a brochure that reads that I was leading world record holder Noureddine Morceli.

It feels much different than running a race.

You have to be running within yourself and even pace and the fatigue sets in in a different way. And that's where judging pace vs. effort gets tricky.

I assume it is similar in long races.

Being a rabbit for superior runners is tough. You may be able to run exact splits for a certain distance, but as you start to run out of steam your perceived exertion starts to skyrocket and it becomes very difficult to know whether you're slowing down or speeding up.

Even pacing slower runners, the tough thing is that your own perceived exertion isn't a great guide. When I'm running for time, it's easy because I know what 10k or half marathon or full marathon race is supposed to FEEL like. But I'm not very good at judging my speed when I get much below marathon pace. I'm guessing a lot of runners can relate. If someone tells you to run a 68 second quarter, you'll hit the pace on the dot. Try running a quarter in exactly 2 minutes, though. I bet without a watch you'd be way off.

It would be cool to pace a marathon on a track. Especially if you came back from a lap down to lead your pace group.

Clif Bar has a pace team for many marathons. I believe it is required to have run at least 10 marathons prior to becoming a pacer, though. They are sponsored by Saucony so maybe you can score some sweet kit.

Once in a track race

I really don't see the point in having pacers lower down the field when there are runners all around

Any local race nowadays has loads of pacers sacrificing their opportunity to run well. I don't get it