The slow run

2:00, 2:00, run, run, keep up! I’m breathing heavily, sweating like crazy, taking a mouthful of isotonic, and rapidly getting back on track. I’m trying to run the half-marathon in under 2 hours on a warm spring day. My plan: keep up with the 2:00 pacers and push past them on the last 2 kilometers.

Major marathon and half-marathon races have these runners with balloons tied to them or with a pole and flag with some numbers. These numbers look like 1:30, 1:45, 2:00, or 2:30 for a half-marathon. That means they will finish the race in 1 hour 30 minutes, 1 hour 45 minutes, or 2 hours. These people are freakin’ awesome. They smile, encourage you, and make you feel part of a tribe. They are volunteers trying to help people reach their goals.

If you’ve set your mind on running a half-marathon in a specific time, you could run alongside the people with “PACER” written on their shirts. They will for sure guide you to the finish line in your desired time; that’s if you can keep up 🙂

Over the last 15 kilometers, I’ve gone from running side by side with the pacers to falling slightly behind; and then increasing the speed to catch up again, and again, and again. From a fun little sprint, I went to a cat and mouse game where I was mostly sitting behind, trying to catch a little moment to speed up and get back in the pack, but that moment was getting farther and farther away.

The refreshment points were the funniest. If my usual routine was to grab water, drink, and walk a bit to let it settle down, my teammates were not even stopping or, at most, quickly taking a sip and then marching on. Seeing them sprint from the checkpoint made me anxious, so I would drink just a bit of water and then get back on the circuit as fast as possible.

My eyes are barely seeing the 2:00 sign anymore. Reaching the third refreshment point, I saw the pacers storm away while I was just slowing down to take a sip. That’s when I gave up on the chase. I enjoyed my water, breathed deeply, walked, and enjoyed the crazy mess of runners passing by. We did meet again on a large boulevard where I was on the way down, and they were going up. There were at least 500 meters between us.

I kept running at a good pace while feeling way more relaxed. I enjoyed the atmosphere, the great weather, the closed roads, and the people cheering for us. Looking at my watch, I calculate that if I keep it up, I’m not far from my goal; I’m bound to finish in close to 2 hours. How close? Well… I finished in 2 hours, 0 minutes, and 50 seconds.

I did push on the last few kilometers, but it wasn’t enough to finish in under 2 hours. I felt OK with this because I learned so much from this race. My pacer friends had arrived quite some time ago. As I thought, they ran a bit faster than their 2 hours pace. Maybe that slight difference broke me; it was faster than expected.

All in all, running with or after the pacers is fun and an experience. It helps you push yourself better than you could do on your own, and it gives you a steady pace. In this case, it was a bit too much for me, but it helped me almost hit my goal. I recognized at different races that the pacers will try to keep a constant pace for 99% of the race, slowing just slightly at refreshment points and never actually walking. That’s very different from my style, where I take walking breaks occasionally, especially after drinking water. I also tend to run faster in the beginning and slow down towards the end. They just keep up the same pace like a metronome.

I also found it helpful to have from time to time pacers in training. It can be a friend or a group that runs at your target pace. Your motivation will increase tenfold, and you will get a clear example of what you have to do. You just have to match their speed and keep along.

What’s your experience with pacers?