By: Nikki Reiter
Looking to run your goal time in your next half- or full marathon? Consider hunting down the pacer for your goal time! A pacer is someone employed by the race organizers to run a specific time, usually within 15 seconds of the goal, and usually at a very steady pace. Pacers are usually very encouraging, outgoing individuals and are experienced at the race distance.
I recently had the opportunity to pace a half-marathon for a 2:00 group. With the 2-hour mark being such a large time barrier for so many individuals, I was very excited to guide runners to achieving their goal. I finished in 1:59.42 (gun time). A great performance for my first time pacing!
Being a 1:30 half-marathoner, this was a great pace to go out and enjoy the race with a different perspective, and I learned a lot from the people around me enjoying their run. I am typically so consumed by my own splits and performance when I race that I forget to take in the beautiful courses or enjoy the company of those around me. Thanks to this opportunity, I gained new perspective on enjoying the racing experience.
Technically, pacing wasn’t too tough and I was able to lock into the necessary pace and keep things steady for the runners around me. Surprisingly, the runners around me weren’t as uptight as I thought they’d be about their splits and making their goal time; they were more concerned with enjoying their day and taking it all in. This was something very new to me and I feel very fortunate to have learned how to race differently.
If you’re feeling blasé these days about your racing, maybe it’s time to try something different. Trying a new race distance, or testing out a trail race perhaps, could be a way to re-energize, renew or re-establish your relationship with racing.
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Nikki Reiter is a Mizuno Running Brand Ambassador from Kelowna, BC. She holds a master’s degree in biomechanics, coaches Cross Country at UBC Okanagan and is the founder of Run Right Gait Analysis Service (run-right.ca).
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