Parkrun Pacing

16 Jul 2023 at 08:46 // under Running

Yesterday the RTC warriors provided pacers in celebration of Falkirk Parkrun's 12th birthday. We had pacers, runners aiming for a specific time at a steady effort, all the way from 20 minutes up to over 35 (I can't remember the exact number).

I was pacing the 21 minute slot and finished in 20:55, close enough and at least the error was on the correct side! I had one attempt at a practice run on Thursday night, where I came in 10 seconds slow. This time, it was actually difficult not to go too quick. I found when going up the main hill near the start, it was I was constantly having to remind myself that I was not racing and to avoid increasing the pace when someone was sitting on my shoulder.

I remember one of the Parkruns I took part in, back in 2019 when I was just trying to start running again, but hadn't started running with the warriors. I was very keen to break the 20 minute barrier, though from memory I am fairly sure I failed to keep up with the 21 minute pacer.

Once again, I am amazed at the progress that can be made with consistent training.

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