Pacing stories: the highs, the lows, the lessons!

Once the Tata Mumbai marathon (Jan 20) ended I decided that that was last of my racing season! Though I was few minutes away from my BQ, I knew I wouldn’t enjoy my run in New Delhi marathon happening 5 weeks later…

So, I decided to accept the invitation for a handful of pacing assignments!

I have paced three races since TMM: one for 10km (50 min) and two full marathons (4:30 & 4:45)… And three of them had three different outcomes…

For one, it was a success story… For another it was a fail because the bus came late and the other it was lots of anger because the bus came early…

The first one was the 10km race; with me ending up as an angry runner and deciding never associate myself with the event again… I was leading the 50 minutes bus… The route was confusing and also short… The route markers were not visible at all and ended up finishing the race at 9.7 km @48 min… Though the people who ran along with me got their personal bests and all, I was not happy… It felt wrong!

The second one: 4:45 hrs bus for a full marathon in Gurgaon… It was a success story! A well organized race and route markers everywhere because the organizers considered the 8 underpasses enroute and knew our Garmins and TomToms won’t work there… Finished @ 4:44:16 with few first timers… Satisfaction level – 10/10…

The failed one, the one I am disappointed the most was the New Delhi marathon! Why disappointed? Because it is one of the most sought run the country – flat course, great weather… Perfect conditions for PBs and many got them on that day (making me feel worse)…

So, why did I (and most of the other pacers) fail? We all executed the pace plans to perfection! But, most of us failed! Why?

In a race, pacers don’t fully rely on their Garmins… The chances of having a 100% GPS signal from start to end is rare! Of course we need the watches, but we rely mostly on the distance markers… While the organizers of NDM did all arrangements for route, traffic control and hydration, they forgot the most important thing – the kilometer markers… There could have been 2 or 3 at 1.4km, 5km, and one 1.1 km to the finish line… Most of us didn’t see the second one at all…

Making the calculation difficult was the odd way this two loop marathon was planned. The first loop was longer than second loop since the flag off was inside the stadium and we finished the first loop and also the race outside the stadium! So, I had no idea on how much more to the finish line until the last marker showed me 1.1 km more where as my Garmin showed 600 m more… From there it was a mad race to finish and I knew I couldn’t make it… So, I encouraged the runners enroute and finished the race in 4:31:38… A good 1:40 min late…

I am disappointed of course! It was also a lesson learning moment… Never trust the organizers to make life easier… Keep your eyes and ears open during a race…

And the satisfactory part – many runners achieved their personal best, few got qualified for Comrades… Some of them came and thanked me after the race; it felt good… It was not a bad day after all!

Follow me on