September 26th 2022
HAHAHA, I find this hilarious because years ago I wrote a post: The runPacer. There I described how to use a script I wrote to add a ``pace'' (i.e. a 180 bpm beat) to audio files, in terms of Steps Per Minutes (spm). The idea was to pace at the beat rhythm so to follow the given cadence while running. That was a fun project! This post is instead about being a "human-pacer" during races, or my experience in the Dutch Pacing Team.
The pacing team was a concept initially started by Runner's world, who is no longer involved. Most work is now done by Daniel and Gerry. This page describes what the pacing team did at the Amsterdam marathon. Other marathons might have similar descriptions on their website, under the tab ``pacers''. The dutch pacing team consists of people that runs, a lot! These can keep a flat pace for the whole duration of the race because of their long experience running. The first time I saw them at a race I thought it was incredible people would sacrifice their race goal to help another reach hers/his. Later however I realized that was actually quite a more noble goal than running for one's own goal and I thought it would have been nice to become a pacer myself. So I searched and searched until I found the webpage of the Dutch Pacing Team.
In this table I report the races I paced.
| Name | Distance | Time | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sneek Marathon | 21.1 | 01:46:22 | June 25th 2022 | Sneek |
| City Pier City | 21.1 | 01:49:27 | September 25th 2022 | Den Haag |
| Amsterdam Marathon | 21.1 | 01:49:59 | October 16th 2022 | Amsterdam |
| Egmond Halve Marathon | 21.1 | 01:53:54 | January 8th 2023 | Egmond aan Zee |
| Marathon Eindhoven | 21.1 | 01:39:07 | October 8th 2023 | Eindhoven |
| Amsterdam Marathon | 21.1 | 01:39:57 | October 15th 2023 | Amsterdam |
| NN Egmond Halve Marathon | 21.1 | 01:52:40 | January 14th 2024 | Egmond aan Zee |
| NN CPC Loop Den Haag | 21.1 | 01:44:43 | March 10th 2024 | Den Haag |
| Leiden Marathon | 21.1 | 01:39:43 | May 12th 2024 | Leiden |
| TCS Amsterdam Marathon | 21.1 | 01:43:43 | October 20th 2024 | Amsterdam |