This was the second year in a row that I participated in the Baltimore Marathon as a Geico Pacer. Someday I may race the marathon; I could actually place quite well, but this is a really unique opportunity to give back. I used pace groups when I first started marathoning, and thanks to this specific group, my third marathon was the first that I ran from start to finish in just under 3:30. 2.5 years later, I have been able to return the favor, twice.
In the future, I will try and pace a faster group, but the main advantage of going 3:30 is a quick recovery. 8 minute pace is a tad slow for long run pace, but its good to stretch out the endurance legs a bit. Also, once you get to 3:20, 3:10, and 3:00, the groups get significantly smaller.
We had a total of 4 pacers in our group, 3 returning from last year (including me) and one new guy. Baltimore is a pretty tricky course to pace evenly as we are supposed to, but we were never more than 8 seconds in either direction from 8 minute pace.
Through the first 8 or 9 miles we were a tad fast, about a minute faster than overall goal pace thanks to all the downhill running through the Zoo and St. Paul street. With the flat area around Federal Hill, and the interesting run through Underarmor, we managed to dial it back to anywhere from 0-20 seconds faster than overall pace.
We essentially held that the rest of the way, through the merge with the slower half marathoners, the hills, and the nasty winds around Lake Montebello. Our group stayed rather cohesive, though you always lose and gain people along the way.
As we began to approach the finish, mile 23, 24, 25, we encouraged people to go on ahead, though some did on their own. As pacers, we are obligated to stay even, but heavily encourage others to push ahead if they have anything left. We received many, many thanks from runners who charged on to smash 3:30. Others held on for dear life sticking right behind us as we tucked in tight whenever the winds picked up to try and shield people.
Down the last stretch we had some half marathoners, and a couple of marathoners with us. It took a bit of yelling on our parts, but we got the last of the marathoners around us to stay on pace and eventually charge ahead.
We crossed the line smooth, steady, and quite relaxed in 3:29:44, well within our allowed 59 second window, and nearly dead on. More people thanked us as we made our way through the finish area.
Overall, it was an extremely successful and rewarding day. We were told more than a few times along the way about how good we were at keeping pace. Anytime we supposedly came up to a mile marker more than 10 seconds too fast, everyone assumed it was short (they probably were...). I am the marathoner I am today thanks to a couple of pace groups that showed me what it means to hold on at the end.
Hopefully, a few other marathoners out there today learned the same lesson.
I did this last year as well, also pacing 3:30 and feel like it was much easier this year, which hopefully puts me in better shape! My left leg tightened up on me again before the race yesterday, but I managed to get it under control before the race. It feels pretty good now, considering I just spent over an hour more on my feet running than I usually do. The last time I spent 3:30 running was when I paced last year.
Some more running and hopefully a bike ride are on tap for tomorrow. I'll see how I feel before committing to an effort level. It was certainly nice to kick back and not race this weekend!
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