Help! Pacing at parkrun

8 watchers

LindsD Jun 2015 9:01am, 19 Jun 2015 5,687 posts	0 LindsD Thank you all! That's really useful advice. I shall report back....
Fitz Jun 2015 9:02am, 19 Jun 2015 1,224 posts	0 Fitz Coincidentally, I read about racepacing.com in the "run abc south" freebie magazine.
mole_thing Jun 2015 11:39am, 19 Jun 2015 1,298 posts	0 mole_thing I've paced at parkruns a few times. I find the most useful thing is to have average pace showing on the Garmin and aim to be a second or two under that, making due allowance for changes in gradient. It's also good to know if the course is likely to measure short or long. I was caught out when pacing at Margate parkrun: I'd successfully allowed for gale-force winds and was feeling smug approaching the finish, only to realise too late it was going to measure long (3.16 miles). Despite sprinting into the teeth of the gale I was 11s over.
Da Big Guy Jun 2015 12:28pm, 19 Jun 2015 671 posts	0 Da Big Guy The watch answer is.... . .....if it's on your watch use the "virtual partner"function. On my 305 (and 205) it gives a graphic of the distance you are ahead or behind where you need to be. Thus assuming it's a flatish course and the Garmin accurately measures distance and the parkrun is exactly 5Km, then you should be spot on. This way you need not worry about average pace or laps or time or distance - you just ease off a little if you are gaining distance and speed up a little if you are behind. The advantage is also that you can tell if you are struggling ie starting to consistently drop behind where you need to be - at this point you can tell anyone with you to go it alone.
JustDistracted (JD) Jun 2015 3:33pm, 19 Jun 2015 1,566 posts	0 JustDistracted (JD) I've paced a couple of times at parkrun and second the advice to pace rather slower than your normal pace. Last year I tried to pace just slower than normal in the first week of hayfever. I had to say I was likely to miss at the start of the last lap. I did miss, but not as bad as I feared. my 910 can be a bit up and down on average pace, so I set a lap of half a mile and look at lap pace. There's a calculator on this ere site to help with your splits, or use KM's for parkrun. enjoy
SwAckie Racer Jun 2015 4:15pm, 19 Jun 2015 4 posts	0 SwAckie Racer I've paced 24 & 25 at parkrun's on a regular basis , usually within a couple of seconds , occasionally exact. I tend to use the virtual pacer on my Garmin for the 1st 3 miles ( gain a a few seconds on the down's & flat so that you can ease off a bit on the inclines) then switch to the main screen for the last bit in case the distance is not exact. Also depends who's still with you at that point , try to encourage them and let them know that if they finish in front of you they've got their target
LindsD Jun 2015 10:05am, 22 Jun 2015 5,719 posts	0 LindsD Thanks for all the advice, which was really helpful. I went out a bit fast on the first km, paced spot on for kms 2,3, and 4, and then around 400m from the end I got a bit carried away encouraging the runners behind me and ended up 12secs out. Was a bit annoyed with myself as I could have easily been spot-on. Managed to get one lady who'd told me she was targetting sub-30 to 29.59 though, so she was happy. I really enjoyed it and would definitely do it again.
mole_thing Jun 2015 7:37am, 24 Jun 2015 1,299 posts	0 mole_thing Well done LD!
LindsD Jun 2015 9:09am, 24 Jun 2015 5,742 posts	0 LindsD Thank you!
Spleen Oct 2015 2:52pm, 2 Oct 2015 1,189 posts	0 Spleen I'm pacing 25 minutes at Parkrun tomorrow. The interesting thing is that it's Ashton Court, Bristol which has a very large hill - it's basically up a hill for the first half then back down it for the second. I've tried to do this properly and looked at my own splits from previous Parkruns, which suggest that the first half will take 60% of the time and the second half 40% - so 15 minutes for the first half and 10 minutes for the second. My course record is 21:36 so I shouldn't have problems physically. But my number crunching suggests that the hill will be at 10 minute miles or slightly faster, and then we'll have to start the second half at 7 minute miles and accelerate to 6:20 as we fly down the hill. Which sounds very fast, but I can't make the numbers work otherwise. Anyway, it'll be fun to see how long my plan lasts in the field : -) Does anyone have any tips for pacing on hilly courses?