Pacer stress
A good friend of mine is going to be an official pacer at a fall marathon. You know, that person you seek out in the starting corrals and stick with for as long as you can*.
I actually wasn’t planning on doing a marathon this year, but then I found out this person was pacing and that they were pacing the time I was aiming for at my last marathon (and missed by 15 minutes, but still PR’d, so yay!), and that is a SIGN! You don’t ignore a sign like that! I discussed the race with Steven, then signed up the day after my friend told me they were pacing, uh, back in March. Fast forward to last week when I get an email from the race and remember, “Oh yeah! I signed up for that!”
I also happened to chat with my friend last week and told them how excited I am they were pacing. That was when they said the race actually assigned them to a marathon pace that is 20 minutes faster than they requested. Um, geesh, as if pacing a group of strangers isn’t already stressful enough, now you have to pace faster than you wanted to? Wow! (I know they can do it, but still! Stress!)
Do you think you would be comfortable being an official pacer for a race? What distance and what pace?
It’s an honor when a friend asks you to pace them, but that doesn’t mean it’s not stressful. You want them to have a great race. Even though it is their legs that do the work, you are really taking on the race stress of two people.
So I can’t imagine that, with a group of people! But! I do think it would be fun to be an official race pacer someday. Cause I like to talk to strangers during races. And I can run a steady slower than race pace. And I wouldn’t mind holding a pace poster/flag/whatever. Oh, and getting a free entry and clothes and sometimes shoes. Ha ha.
*or if you are really awesome, that person you start behind, keep in your sights, catch up with… and pass, ha ha.
Themocracy
I think you would make an amazing race pacer! I am worried that it would stress me out, but all the times I’ve paced my friends, I’ve really enjoyed doing it.
I still think it’s jacked that they said, “Sure you can be a pacer! Take this speedier group though!” Um, ACK! 20 minutes is A LOT!
Thanks! I think you would too. We’d just have to have the right pace. Not 20 minutes faster than what we said we could do. LOL.
Oooh! Another marathon for you??? 🙂 I know we talked about that before 😉
Surprised your pacer friend is surprised to be a pacer for a much faster group… I’d assume the race would want pacers for times like 20+ minutes slower than their PRs for a full. (Which maybe it still is for your friend)
I think it would be fun to pace. I’d do 1:55 + for a half and would feel comfy with anything 3:50 and slower for a full. It would be a great experience getting people to their goals and encouraging them along the way 🙂
Yeah, this is the one I told you I am signed up for but not sure if I am able to do or not because of schedule issues.
I am not surprised they were surprised… I mean, when you say what pace you are comfortable pacing, why would they give you something faster? The pace they gave them is 11+ minutes slower than their PR.
You should totally do it sometime!
My friend Brian paced me through a half once and it was one of the best times ever. I didn’t PR in that race, but the experience was so worth it! A bunch of my friends officially pace for our local CGI race directors and I give them props. I would definitely be too stressed!!!!
It sounds so stressful being a pacer! That’s great that your friend is doing it but so surprising that they put him at a pace 20 minutes faster than requested. Talk about added stress!
oh no! So now you can’t run with your friend’s pace group? Or are you adjusting your goal? 😉
I would like to be a half marathon pacer for the 2:20 or 2:15 groups. I’m not ready to pace marathons yet. Maybe one day!
If I am able to do the race, I still plan to run with them. Cause my goal is the 20 minutes faster than requested goal (4:10) 🙂 Sorry to make it confusing.
I wonder if you could get in on the Fox Cities pacing program for the half! Do they have one?
Wow – I think that it’s crazy that they bumped up your friend! I don’t think that I’d want to pace. I like to start out slower and then get faster, so I can’t imagine having to run at the same pace for the entire race!
That is an interesting point you bring up… cause I think some pacers do that! I wonder if at some events, they tell them to do whatever, just get the people to the finish at that time, and if at others, they tell them to run even splits. I was behind a pace group that was running positive splits once, which I thought was a horrible technique!
I think it would be a blast to be a pacer, but I’m not the most consistent of runners so I have a long way to go before I can do that. Your pace can’t be all over the place as a pacer!
Annabelle posted about being an offical pacer and it sounded a bit stressful! http://fluencysfolly.com/2013/07/23/go-speed-pacer-go/ I’ve paced friends during races but I don’t know if I would ever be an official pacer. Although that might be a good strategy if you are using a race as a training run – force you to run an easy pace.
Aww, her “new” blogger friend Declan. Cute 🙂 Cool she had a veteran pacer with her for a bit. NOT cool with the dumb comments. But, eh, those people exist and do races. I am also surprised by this: “I’ve since learned people do sign up to pace at targets shockingly close to their own PR’s, I do not like this, it seems very irresponsible).”
Twenty minutes faster? I’d be pissing myself.
I am not sure I could pace a marathon – it’s hard enough to be accountable to myself, much less other people! I do think it could be fun to try a half – the track club paces for Fort4Fitness, and my bud Joe was one of the 2:00 paces. I think I’d be better at the 2:15 range.
I am excited, though, as they are adding a 1:55 pacer to this year’s race. It will give Mark and I a starting point for the race then we can ditch em and just rock the shit out of the half.
Yeah, I think I would need a lot more marathons under my belt to pace, unless they want me to pace 5:00 or something. Even then, I’d probably still do my typical mile 16/18 bonk.
Yay for the 1:55 pacer and that plan! Are you going for 1:50?
I have helped be a 2:20 pacer for a half before and it was so much fun, other than the fact we lost everyone in our group by about 10 miles in. It was a hot day so most people ended up dropping back.
I think the 2 hour half would be really stressful to get in under, and pacing a marathon I think is just out of the question for me. I am really surprised he got moved up, hope it all works out!
I wonder what the stats are on how many people typically finish with their pacer! I started with a pacer when I did Madison and they were saying it was pretty low in their experience!
I’m pretty sure the only thing I’d feel comfortable pacing would be like a 30-33 minute 5K. Haha. I’ve run enough 5Ks (almost all of which were substantially faster than that) to feel totally confident that I could pace a 5K (not that any 5Ks actually have pacers). I’d have to run A LOT more marathons before I felt like I could pace anyone under any circumstance, let alone be an official pacer!
I think I would panic and over analyze if I had to pace someone, but I sincerely appreciate people who DO pace!
I’ve paced training runs, and that was a LOT of fun…I did feel terrible when my entire group fell apart during the 20 miler after hitting a terrible thunderstorm, LOL. Best of luck on your marathon, I bet you will do great!
I’ve used a pacer a few times and they are AWESOME!!!! I totally think I would be good at motivating people, but I don’t think I could ever pace them…too much stress!!!!
I would prefer to be the sweeper….that would be too much stress on me.
That would be unbelievably stressful if I were trying to pace a group 20 minutes faster than what I had requested. YIKES! Talk about pressure.
I’ve had good and bad experiences with pacers. It seems like some races have “volunteer” pacers who aren’t very experienced at pacing. But, when I ran the Illinois Half in April, the pacer I went with was incredibly accurate. It was AWESOME. I found out that his marathon PR was 3:35 but he usually paced between 4:30 and 5:00. That’s a nice balance!
That is so interesting to me that that person paces almost an hour slower than their PR! I think that makes sense. And I am so happy you had an awesome pacer there! YAY PR!!!!
I could never, ever be a pacer! I am usually all over the map myself, so I’d feel totally stressed trying to get others to reach their goals! But you, on the other hand? You’d be an AMAZING pacer. You’re so encouraging, experienced, patient and organized!
I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of pacing. although i do think that it would be way too stressful for me :). i enjoy doing it on a one-on-one basis for friends. but i don’t like the idea of a whole group of people depending on me. i’m not sure i’m predicable enough for it.
I would be a terrible pacer. My random training methods aren’t really conducive to such a thing!
I would never want to be a pacer, never. Not even at a speed several minutes slower than what I’m used to. What if I had to go to the bathroom or didn’t feel great or tripped and fell…racing is enough pressure in and of itself! I really admire those pacers!
Most of the pacers I’ve tried to “use” (That sounds so mean!) at races start out fast and adjust their time later. I don’t know if that’s a specific strategy, but it seems too aggressive for a lot of runners–what if their legs are shot after running 30 seconds faster per mile for the first part of the race??
I don’t think I could do it. Holding that sign? No way.
I hope that is not a specific strategy cause it’s a total crap one. I bet a lot of people sign up for a pace group that is a bit faster for them anyway, so to go out too fast spells disaster!