pace-yourself

Pacing a Half Marathon?

Browsing through the blogs I’m following I’m reading a lot of resolutions (which I made myself too offcourse) and friends and family are obviously doing the same thing.

My brother ran his first half marathon this year and everything went way better than expected (Hoped for 5 min/km, ended up at 4:40 min/km which gave him a 1:38 finish time).
After some doubting about a marathon he decided to stick to HM for now and already signed up for one at the end of March.
At Christmas day he asked me to pace him.

I was honoured off course, but didn’t know if I could pull it off. My record dates 1.5y back (which is a lifetime considering my running career) and is ~1:36. My brother aims for 1:30 now.

I’m really considering this, because I think I can pull it off, but just to be sure I’ll test myself in the distance asap.
Last year I paced a marathon for a friend and that was in a relaxing pace for me, which meant I had enough breath to spare to say some encouraging words, With a 4:20 min/km (bit under 7min/mile) I don’t know if I’ll manage.

But see, the year hasn’t even started yet and opportunities already arise.

Have you ever paced a Half Marathon? How was it? I sure could use some pointers!

2 comments

  1. tamsynsmith says:

    I’ve paced people at a variety of distances, but only once at half marathon. It’s important to decide your pacing strategy in advance – if it’s a flat course, that’s fine, but if it’s hilly then you need to decide whether you’re going to stay at a constant pace or whether you’re going to slow down on the uphill parts and speed up on the downhills. You also need to decide whether you’re aiming for a negative split. Good luck!

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