Great Experience!

Yesterday was my first pacing gig at the NJ Half marathon. Having never paced before, I was a little nervous. I knew I could handle the pace (10:18) but was concerned with holding that even over the course of 13.1 miles all while being motivating and remembering to hit the silly little lap button on my Garmin.

I got a good nights sleep and woke up a little after 4am to head to NJ. Getting to and from the race logistically was no issue and I was there in plenty of time to park in the lot right at the start and not have to deal with the bus shuttles. After picking up my pacing shirt and balloons, I ditched my warm clothes and headed to the port o' pot line. Holy hell! I stood in line for over 20 minutes and barely moved. At 8:00am when I was suppose to go line up at the start, I actually took advantage of my pacer status and some nice girls let me budge. I bolted to the start to get situated and it was a mad house. Definitely not organized and pacers were out of order, etc. I made my way behind the 2:00 leader and within seconds I had runners pushing their way towards me. I had been warned that I had the largest group of the race, with over 50 people signed up, and more who just joined me at the start. It was so exciting with tons of first timers with lots of questions. 

It was absolutely beautiful out and the sun was shining. Immediately I found my pace and made sure I didn't get caught up in the rush during the first few miles. I lost some people quickly who went out too fast, even after saying they wanted to stay with me to make sure that's exactly what they didn't do. But for the most part, I had a pretty good group for several miles. Runners dropped and joined throughout the race and the miles just flew by. I checked in with everyone throughout the race, called out upcoming miles (to which they would all cheer), and pointed out water stations as we approached them.

A mile or so past the half way mark I was down to a tight little group and we stuck together chit chatting and having fun. These girls were so sweet and did an amazing job, providing support to one another and smiling the whole way. Around mile 11 we lost a few more of our group. That's the hardest part. I wanted so badly to slow down, to make sure they were ok, encourage them to hang on, but I couldn't. Instead I had to keep on pace for those who were left in my group.

Around mile 12.5 my last two pacees, Jocelyn and Ann, left to finish strong and as much as I wanted to sprint to the finish, too, I held my pace and paced a few people I had picked up during the last mile to a strong finish. I crossed the finish line, still carrying my balloons, which a huge smile on my face. I had so much fun out there!

Official Finish Time

2:14:59

I'm shocked I was this accurate. SHOCKED. This was such a great experience and I hope to do it again because getting feedback like this made my day:

"We loved running with you today! Not only were your tips perfect while we ran, but we totally enjoyed chatting the entire race. My first half marathon experience was awesome...can't wait to come back for more. Now my only concern is how I'm going to run without you as our pacer! PLEASE let us know if you'll be pacing any other halves in the future so we can sign up!"

Our Pacer Shirt and medal.