If you have ran as a pacer

[Forestcantrun]

Do you have to pay to enter the race too or is that covered by the organiser? I’ve applied to pace a race a few months post marathon just for a change in , well pace I suppose 🤣.
The details have been scant due to the holiday but I’m interested to see how this works.
Do pacers apply for LLHM etc? Or are they chosen from entrants? Always wondered.

You might want to ask MN to change the typo in your title, OP. It’s come out as “have ran” instead of have run.

Yeah, because nobody will know what OP means

Pacers get free places.

I've not done it at an event, but did look in to it (I've paced people informally at parkrun and helped mates at events). You have to be VERY sure that you can run the time accurately (that's what put me off going for it as an actual role!)

You don't get paid, for large events you may get kit to help you stand out and of course you'll have to run with a banner attached.

Some events use other organisations to source their pacers (Runner's World springs to mind, but I think there are others).

I understood what op meant @Babdoc .

Think your best bet would be to contact the organiser @Forestcantrun .

I have a friend who has paced a few half marathons and 10k's. She runs with a club and is a regular marathon runner herself and I think she is asked/invited to do it.

DH and I once paced at a high profile half marathon. The opportunity was offered through a running website we used to post on. We were given free places, an indoor space to wait for the race with the elite athletes and other pacers, and a couple of items of branded running kit. I'd opted to pace a time that was comfortably within my ability and it was one of my favourite race experiences ever. I hope you have a great day out, OP.

People in my running club act as pacers. Think they use Run Through. You have to be able to do the distance comfortably and faster. You get free entry to the race you’re pacing in and another 1-2 races of your choice. It’s not as easy as it looks from what I’ve heard and having followed pacers in races, it is stressful if they run too fast and suddenly slow down to walking pace in last km.

I have paced several times, for various organisers but never paid, they do expect you to have run generally a fair bit faster than the time
you are pacing, it should be very easy/comfortable for you - ie my 10k time is usually around 42 minutes, I tend to pace 55/60 minutes at a 10k.

This is right outside my own experience, but our parkrun used to have pacers once a month before lockdown. It was interesting to see that some people were much better at it than others. My husband is like a human metronome and was able to finish to within a second or two of his allotted time but others were often way off. I imagine practice helps make perfect.

Thank you all. @KohlaParasaurus I’m heartened to hear of your positive experience.

To be clear I certainly would not expect to be paid, I just wondered should I purchase an entry before the event sells out as the organisers have replied to my emails but not with any answers to questions I’ve asked! I would probably run this anyway if I wasn’t pacing as I’ve never taken part in a women only race before and it seems like a nice route.

@Lastqueenofscotland2 its a very comfortable time I’ve applied for so I’ll be well able to chat to other runners if they need it and just enjoy the atmosphere without the pressure of a PB.
@boschbabe I imagine there is an element of stress for sure. I’m not a human metronome like Mr @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g but I’ve been religiously sticking to whatever paces my plan has set me over the last 4 months so I’m confident I should be able to stick to the relevant km/min. I’m genuinely looking forward to it as a change from my long lonely Winter of training.

I’m tail running a local race in November, we get free entry. I’m not brave enough - or fast enough to pace a race. I have done pacing at parkrun a couple of times.