Why do marathons need pacemakers

Use your GPS watch by all means if it works but remember to run the race, not the distance. Looking at race data from various half and full marathons, it's clear that for the majority of runners, the first half tends to be faster than the second. This "positive split" is often a result of getting swept along by the early-miles-easiness, before paying the price later on in the race.

It can be a useful strategy to put in a few slightly faster miles in the first half, but more often than not you'll lose more than you gain when you enter the final stretch. Starting off slowly and building up so your second half is quicker than the first is known as a negative split. You spend the latter miles feeling smug about your superior tactics, as you overtake all those runners grimacing at the side of the road. The danger is that you give yourself too much work to do with your slower-than-average early miles and although you might finish strongly, you will probably have left some precious seconds or minutes out there on the road.

The third option is to run as evenly as possible — and this is where the pacemakers come in. Holding an even mile pace means you'll have to work harder in the second half than you were in the first, so in essence it's similar to the negative split. You still get to finish strong but you'll be eking out every last ounce of potential on the day. I stared blankly at the flashing notification on my watch for seconds in that race last weekend, finally giving up on the satellites and restarting the watch before adding on my estimated delay.

It made for an interesting race of calculations but I crossed the line in So if you're planning your race calendar, join me and my pacing team at the Mizuno Reading half marathon on Sunday 2 March. It's one of the fastest half marathons around and we're hoping to help even more runners achieve those all important PBs — you'll be in good hands. Follow all the fallout from the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. Links to the latest deals are listed below. From 'It's a Wonderful Life' to 'Home Alone,' these are the very best Christmas movies of all time, guaranteed to get you feeling festive year after year!

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Australia markets open in 3 hours 51 minutes. ASX 7, OIL GOLD 1, CMC Crypto 1, For free. Read full article. Anastasia Santoreneos. Pacemakers travel the world, stay in great hotels - and get paid to do it. Source: Getty. The pacesetters are usually paid by the organizers to do their job. They are also instructed to complete a lap at a set time or before it, in order to keep the original competitors on their toes. Home Athletics. Athletics Why do organizers use pacesetters for long-distance running events?

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