2013 TBR DREAM MARATHON: Paying Forward via the Pacer Way

My pacer bib

Come the early morning hours of Februray 24,  I will be on  pacer duty at the 2013 The Bull Runner Dream Marathon.  


I will be a Personal  Pacer for my First Balfour co-worker, Delsie Giray. The TBR Dream Marathon  website (http://tbrdream.com/) enumerated the roles and qualities of a pacer as follow:  

     

Roles of Personal Pacers:

• Pace one (1) registered participant throughout the entire 42km

• Alert the Medical/First Aid team and Course Manager of any participant needing outright medical/first aid attention.

Qualities we are looking for in Personal Pacers:

• For Dream Chasers: experienced runner, but not necessarily a marathoner

•  Serious passion for running

• Positive, pleasant, cheerful attitude

• Willing to provide exceptional moral support throughout the entire race

• Believes in “paying it forward” to first time marathoners who need the same support as he/she received in the past

I clearly love being a pacer in the TBR Dream Marathon.  This is my second time to be one.  Last year (2012), I was the pacer for a trio of First Balfour running buddies:  Rose Dalawampu, Icar Hombrebueno and Lily Santamaria (http://www.bicolanopenguin.blogspot.com/2012/03/bull-runner-dream-marathon-celebration.html#more).  

With Delsie

Emman and Delsie

I love being a pacer because it is a rare "opportunity to give back to the running community, to give new runners the same support and motivation they received from others. To basically pay it forward." The 2010 TBR Dream Marathon was my first full marathon.  Without this event, I am not so sure if I would have had the courage to dream about conquering 42.195 kilometers. Thus, any opportunity I have to be of help, I grab it. 

In being a personal pacer for Delsie in the TBR Dream Marathon, I  will be guided with 5 reasons  why pacers are a big help which I quote from Allison Vesterfelt in her blog (http://www.allisonvesterfelt.com/five-reasons-to-get-a-pacer-in-running-in-life/) :

Pacers give us Inspiration.

Watching someone else do the thing that we want to do – and do it well – reminds us that it can be done. Clear, concrete evidence that success is possible is energizing and exciting and challenges us to keep running our race.

Pacers give us something to focus on, aside from the finish line, and aside from our pain.

If I focus on the finish line while I’m running, I’ll either run too fast and burn out, or run too slow and lose heart. Even if I draw myself into the moment, it can be easy to get wrapped up in my pain (my hip hurts, my knee hurts, I’m out of breath…) Having a pacer helps to take my focus off of the finish line, and off my current pain, and gives me something immediate and reasonable to strive for right now.

Pacers give us someone to imitate.

We tend to mimic the people around us, so having a pacer encourages us to mimic someone specific – someone who is a little better, a little faster, a little stronger than we are. They’ve probably been running (or leading, or writing, or being a mom) for longer than we have so we can learn a lot from their strategy, their rhythm, from the way that they carry themselves throughout the race.

Pacers break the wind. 

A pacer is a little stronger, a little faster, a little more experienced than we are, so they can take the brunt of unexpected elements that come in front of us during a race. This is beautiful because, as they make a way for us, all we have to worry about is running and running well.

Having a pacer makes you feel like you’re a part of a team.

It’s stupid, I know, but I swear part of the reason I felt so motivated by these runners was that I wanted to cross the “finish line” with them. I wanted to be on their team. Who wouldn’t? There’s something really satisfying about the thought of crossing the “finish line” with a team (especially an elite team) rather than just by myself.

These 5 reasons will motivate me to continue helping other runners reach their goals. It feels good  to be a coach-on-the-run.  It feels great to pay forward.

Good luck to all the 2013 TBR Dream Marathoners