Pacing at Around the Bay

Race Report
By Roger Hospedales, Team Running Free

Race: Around The Bay
Date: Sunday March 30, 2008.
Location: Hamilton, Ontario
Description: 30 km
Sport: Running Race
Website: www.aroundthebayroadrace.com

Today I ran as the 3:15 pacer for the 30 km using the 10 and 1 method (run 10 minutes and walk for one minute) and thanks to the wonderful group that stuck with me the whole way, I had the most enjoyable run I’ve ever had as a pacer. This had nothing to do with the fact that they were all women, honest.

Most times I’ve run as a pacer, I get a few following me closely while others follow at a distance, keep me in sight and either crumble or take off. Today I had a great crew of motivated, chatty, and classy ladies, along some first time racers that really appreciated and needed a pacer. It felt really cool. They also liked my CWX tights, which I told them could be purchased online at runningfree.com. Too bad I didn’t have my coupons with me. Next time for sure.

The weather was perfect for running fast. Just about the perfect temperature, sunny, and any significant winds were at your back. I wore my Mizuno DryScience long sleeve, gloves, Wave Nirvana 4’s, Louis Garneau Wind Dry Jacket with Pace Bunny shirt on top, CWX Insulator Tights, Fox River Country ¼ socks (felt nice and no blisters), and my hat with bunny ears. This ended up just about the perfect amount of clothing for the pace I was running.

I banked a few extra seconds early in the race so that my followers would have some extra cushion heading into the hilly sections later in the course, then settled into a steady low aerobic pace between 6:15-6:30/km. This worked perfectly and when we reached the final hill everyone stayed strong, not losing any time at all. This put us close to one minute ahead of our intended pace.

After the final walk break (with Copps Coliseum in sight), I told everyone they better take off and go for it since we were very close to a 3:15 gun time – we were running at 3:15 chip time the entire time. I decided to jump in on the fun, picked up the pace and led a bunch of our group into the arena to finish in 3:15:18 gun time (3:13:22 chip time).

I congratulated my group, they thanked me for pacing job I did, and I thanked them in return for making this the best pacer experience I’ve had in about 8 pacer duties. My average heart rate for the day was nice low aerobic effort of 145 bpm (would have been a beat or two lower if it were not for that final blast). It was great to actually enjoy the course, and realize that the hilly sections are not all that bad at all. After doing this race for the second time, it is quickly becoming a favourite of mine. I’ll definitely be ready to beat my time from last year (today would have been a perfect day to do it), but I think I’ll try and return as a pacer if they let me.

Great job to all the Running Free athletes I saw out there, especially new team member, Kelly Dorey. After the race we realized that we were running within a few feet of each other for 25 km. Congrats on your race Kelly! The next planned event for me is my 5th Mississauga Half. No pacer duties for me as I will try and run this one with some kind of recognizable speed.