First, we jog. Then, we run. As our performance improves, we start to race. Racing to conquer new distances or beat personal bests are two of the best motivators for runners. These were also my motivators for a few years until I discovered a new one: running to pace someone.
A running pacer accompanies an individual or a group of runners, covering a given distance from start to finish with a specific target time. Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to pace several runners, and I’ve learned a lot from the experience. Here, I’d like to share some insights with you:
#1: More Motivation to Train
Knowing that a group of runners will rely on you on race day to hit a certain target time can give you the motivation you need to continue training. To be an effective pacer, you need to train yourself to race at a pace higher than your target. This ensures you have enough endurance to race and still take care of the runners in your pace group.
#2: Help Your Fellow Runners
Remember your best race? Remember that smile when you crossed the finish line? Seeing that same smile on runners’ faces as they finish with you, knowing you helped them on their journey, is a reward only pacers can understand.
#3: Hear Great Stories
Running a marathon or half-marathon takes time, and during that journey, you hear amazing stories from fellow runners. Learning how and why they started running and how they got to be running beside you now is inspiring. Sharing your story and hearing theirs fuels your passion and constantly reminds us of where we all began.
#4: Make New Friends
Pacing is a fantastic way to make new friends or deepen existing bonds. It requires patience and understanding, especially when running at a slower pace than usual. After running side-by-side for 3-6 hours, you’re almost guaranteed to be friends by the time you cross the finish line.
So, have you tried pacing someone yet? If not, I encourage you to give it a shot! You might find the rewards more fulfilling than beating your next PR.
having pacers is really good idea, problem is if they do not know how to pace the runners, eg OYM leg 1, just look at the pacers at 1:10 for the 10 km run- pace was too fast like 1:05 , then selfie here and there, no smooth transitions, like start slow then gradual increase in speed then slow down to recover then final push to the finish line, nothing like that. Anyway it is just fun run as the usual answer…
Where can we apply as pacers?