The Running Thread--2024

[xjillianpaige]

I finally started the race part of my race recap! For Boston Marathon miles 1-13.1 click here.

 

[The Expert]

Does anyone else have Blue Cross Blue Shield for their insurance? If so, they have some phenomenal promotions through blue365deals.com. There's a 20% promo code for any Garmin product.

DAMN my state doesn't (yet) participate.

 

[prncssjas]

Good afternoon friends!

QOTD: For those of you who use pacers during a race, what do you find helpful/useful/positive about the experience (or what can get annoying/not helpful), whether you use them at Disney races or elsewhere? I will be pacing a local half marathon through my running club in June that is pretty popular in my hometown and I am SUPER excited! But I would love to hear thoughts from folks who use them. I want to do a great job and help others reach their goals.

 

[LorrieAnn5]

Good afternoon friends!

QOTD: For those of you who use pacers during a race, what do you find helpful/useful/positive about the experience (or what can get annoying/not helpful), whether you use them at Disney races or elsewhere? I will be pacing a local half marathon through my running club in June that is pretty popular in my hometown and I am SUPER excited! But I would love to hear thoughts from folks who use them. I want to do a great job and help others reach their goals.

Noticeable clothing to be seen easily and an open/welcoming personality in the corral or meeting area. I was super intimidated to be sitting near the pacers at the Disneyland Half and then have to admit to them that I was going to try to run with them.
so kind of you to agree to be a pacer. You will make people's dreams come true as they achieve their goals!

 

[GollyGadget]

Good afternoon friends!

QOTD: For those of you who use pacers during a race, what do you find helpful/useful/positive about the experience (or what can get annoying/not helpful), whether you use them at Disney races or elsewhere? I will be pacing a local half marathon through my running club in June that is pretty popular in my hometown and I am SUPER excited! But I would love to hear thoughts from folks who use them. I want to do a great job and help others reach their goals.

I’ve used a pacer once. I liked that he was upbeat and kept giving encouraging words. However, he was pacing too fast and I decided to ditch them about halfway. In my mind, that’s the worst thing you can do. He kept saying we were banking time for later, but that’s not how distance running works…

 

[avondale]

Noticeable clothing to be seen easily and an open/welcoming personality in the corral or meeting area. I was super intimidated to be sitting near the pacers at the Disneyland Half and then have to admit to them that I was going to try to run with them.
so kind of you to agree to be a pacer. You will make people's dreams come true as they achieve their goals!

I've had a couple of good pacers in races. This advice is good.

Let people know what pace you'll be aiming for - perhaps they should've calculated it already for their goal time, but be clear. For example, maybe you'll try to be 5 sec/mi faster than goal pace just to have a little buffer if there's a snag. As you run the course, announce your splits/times and let them know you're on schedule - everyone's GPS will be a tad different.

If the course has hills, let them know if you plan on going a bit slower uphill and faster downhill or keeping a steady pace throughout. Let them know if you'll be walking through the aid stations or running continuously.

Those logistics aside, I've appreciated chatty pacers (even if I'm not participating in the conversation) because that helped keep my mind off the running so I didn't notice the effort so much. Interesting anecdotes, pointing out funny signs, waving to spectators, whatever you can do to keep things interesting and distracting. If people don't want the chatter, they can hang back to the edge of the pace group and won't hear it so much.

Have fun!

 

[flav]

Good afternoon friends!

QOTD: For those of you who use pacers during a race, what do you find helpful/useful/positive about the experience (or what can get annoying/not helpful), whether you use them at Disney races or elsewhere? I will be pacing a local half marathon through my running club in June that is pretty popular in my hometown and I am SUPER excited! But I would love to hear thoughts from folks who use them. I want to do a great job and help others reach their goals.

ATTQOTD pacers: I have used pacers but generally not in order to achieve an overall race goal. Often for a portion of a race to help provide a consistent tempo or to challenge myself for a while. Once to slow me down when injured. Sometimes to have someone interesting and passionate to learn a few tricks or races recommendations from.

Pacers, even unofficial ones, have played an important part of DD journey. The first race she did, the 30 minutes 5k pacer was even talking to her with the tone of a bunny. She laughed, followed him until the turning point and said bye, not wanting to be passed by him again until after the finish line. Talk about taking pressure off a mom/coach/running partner. DD basically learned to make allies while running full speed and often ended with a guy encouraging her until the end.

And yes, one day, DD and/or I will become pacers because it is a great way to give back this passion that you and many share with us.

ETA:
The thing that I appreciate the most of a pacer is when they communicate their plan clearly. Here are some examples from my experience:

• I will be maintaining a constant effort which means that we will go slightly faster than the average pace to account for the hill at km X.
• I will be going straight through/slowing down/ walking the water stops.
• We are 20 seconds too fast after this first km. I will go back to the proper pace but will keep this little advance that we already gained.
• This snow is too deep and you are the only one with me in this wood. I see that you are fading. Do you want me to keep pushing at my assigned pace or do I just keep you company at this point? (thanks Pascale for staying with me that day!)

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Good afternoon friends!

QOTD: For those of you who use pacers during a race, what do you find helpful/useful/positive about the experience (or what can get annoying/not helpful), whether you use them at Disney races or elsewhere? I will be pacing a local half marathon through my running club in June that is pretty popular in my hometown and I am SUPER excited! But I would love to hear thoughts from folks who use them. I want to do a great job and help others reach their goals.

During the last MW, when I was near a pace group, I was glad to hear the pacer guy reminding them to move to the right during the walk periods.
OTOH, I was rather annoyed that, while we were in a narrow portion of the course, he was telling the rest of us to give way for the pace group during their run period, as if we weren't trying to maintain a pace and run a race as well. They were doing 30 seconds run/30 seconds walk, and with them moving in and out of the main running lanes that quickly, it got rather frustrating trying to get past them.
So my 2-cents worth would be for the pace group to be mindful of the other runners.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Random comments....

I don't think about the neighbors noticing me and my running, but apparently they do. I've had a couple of them, when out walking, stop and ask me about the magnets on the back of my truck.

I had a food vendor at the Sun n Fun airshow in Lakeland notice one of my MW shirts and start asking questions.
Long and short: she was completely amazed that we run, that 20,000+ of us do so at a time, and that we run through Disney. After confirming all that, her final comment was, "That's crazy".

I was in traffic the other day and saw a car with rD race magnets on it. Cool.

And then tonight:
I've never seen Moana, but I love last year's Princess Half shirt that features her and Maui. The teal color really looks good and is a change from a lot of my other shirts.
Went out to dinner tonight and as we were finishing up, a young lady (maybe 7, 8, or 9 years old) came up and very shyly told me how much she liked my shirt, that her class had done a Moana play and that she had been in it.
Very unexpected, but very sweet and made me smile.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

Getting ready to depart for a 5k this morning in Harrisburg. Using it as an assessment of my fitness level as I get ready to train for the Wineglass half in October.
The disadvantages of not doing social media, I guess: I missed a post 3 days ago that runners would be getting an email with race information. Stumbled across it when I followed a link from the race website last evening. No email. So I emailed to inquire. Turned out they had my payment but nothing about me on the registered participant list. Glad that got fixed last night instead of as a surprise this morning.
Hoping for under 28 minutes. No speed work in a long time. But I've been getting in at least 20 miles a week for 2 months now.
With any luck, the bridge we cross twice won't be slippery. It has an open-grate style deck.
I'll try to post a race report.

 

[flav]

Getting ready to depart for a 5k this morning in Harrisburg. Using it as an assessment of my fitness level as I get ready to train for the Wineglass half in October.
The disadvantages of not doing social media, I guess: I missed a post 3 days ago that runners would be getting an email with race information. Stumbled across it when I followed a link from the race website last evening. No email. So I emailed to inquire. Turned out they had my payment but nothing about me on the registered participant list. Glad that got fixed last night instead of as a surprise this morning.
Hoping for under 28 minutes. No speed work in a long time. But I've been getting in at least 20 miles a week for 2 months now.
With any luck, the bridge we cross twice won't be slippery. It has an open-grate style deck.
I'll try to post a race report.

Have a good race!

 

[jmasgat]

I've never seen Moana

It's one of my favorites. You have to watch this, and then come back and thank me. To which I will sing the reply "What can I say except you're welcome" (You'll know what this means after you watch the movie)

 

[GreatLakes]

QOTD: I've never used a pace group but have used the pace pro setting on my way h. I prefer to make my own adjustments and decide on how I'll tackle hills as opposed to relying on the group.

 

[dis_or_dat]

@dis_or_dat Fabulous race report. I am curious was the bus and portopotty situation worse this year than in past years? That is awsome that you were able to BQ at boston. i knew you had some injuries so i was not sure how training was going.

Great Job!

I ran in 2021 - the covid year - so it was a rolling start. I think we skipped Athletes Village entirely and walked from the buses straight to the CVS porta potties (which were great!) and ran when we were ready - no corrals, just go.

I think a few buses always get lost at Boston, I remember hearing about it in 2021. But I was privy to the entire conversation since I was next to our driver. Apparently buses were suppose to take exit 54, but a state trooper forced some off at exit 50 and it was a rural area and those drivers decided to pull over at a park and were hoping maybe a trooper would come guide them but no one showed up so they tried using their own GPS but it sounded like a mess. They were in real distress. Luckily the front buses in my caravan were NOT having it and ignored the trooper and took the correct exit. Our lead driver: "I don't know what his problem is, he thinks he's bigger than god" (in a strong Boston accent)

I secretly wanted to BQ at Boston and luckily I aged into it! Very very lucky I was able to run with all my issues.

 

[dis_or_dat]

@prncssjas thanks for pacing! It's an important job. I used one for my first marathon.

first make sure its a very easy pace for you and you can hold your pace flag up high enough the entire time. eg if your PR is a 3:30 marathon, I wouldn't pace a 3:35 group - maybe 4:00. I saw a pacer whose PR was 3:15 try to pace a 3:25 group and he needed help crossing at 3:50 and was wheeled to the med tent.

some pacers try to bank time but this is disaster for most runners and you're trying to set them up for success. I think running 1-2 seconds faster is ok. you want to cross exactly on time or a few seconds under, not 5 min early. not sure the strategy with hills.

let everyone know your plan.

know the course well - announce when there's a turn (probably want to take the tangent well), when water/fuel etc stations are coming up and on which side.

if you can, keep the group light with lots of encouragement. "1st mile down!" etc. you'll lose lots of runners as the race progresses but just keep steady, even if you cross alone but on time.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Good afternoon friends!

QOTD: For those of you who use pacers during a race, what do you find helpful/useful/positive about the experience (or what can get annoying/not helpful), whether you use them at Disney races or elsewhere? I will be pacing a local half marathon through my running club in June that is pretty popular in my hometown and I am SUPER excited! But I would love to hear thoughts from folks who use them. I want to do a great job and help others reach their goals.

Amazing! Thank you for doing this for folks.

I joined a pace group at my second marathon and both pacers had run this marathon a ton of times and were highly involved in the local running scene, so they were able to tell us about the history of the race and course, they could tell us what we were coming up to and what to expect. They called out water spots and reminded us to drink water. They went out at the perfect pace, but I found myself slightly ahead of them a lot and went out too fast. I should have stuck to them like glue. I will always uphold them as ideal pacers.

I tried to join a pacer for a half recently but he went out WAY too fast. I think he knew the course really well and knew that he could use that early downhill to his advantage as some big hills were coming up, but I didn't know that so when I saw a sub-11 pace on my watch I pulled away from him. Had I known there was a strategy (I later saw him run/walk those hills) I would have considered sticking with him. Although I did notice that people who started with him were left in the dust by him and I was easily passing them at the end when I had energy and they didn't.

I also joined a Disney pace group for a hot second at Dopey so I could turn my brain off in the final 3 miles of the marathon when I was gassed but wanted to speed up and get it over with. Super clear run/walk instructions. So friendly and positive. They really helped me and my friend get back into a groove and we ended up leaving them behind as we regained a second wind.