I did though, volunteer with some hesitation as I never paced before. I was put with the 15 minute pace group, a group I could defiantly handle. But the fear came from either running to fast or too slow and messing someone's time up! So I printed out a pace chart and taped it on the back of my phone and ran my stop watch.
I arrived early as always. It was held at Six Flags Over Georgia. I actually expected many more people to be there. Even I, who lives just miles away hadn't heard about the race so I guess I wasn't surprised when I didn't see thousands of people.
The check in was smooth and they had vendors (stickers, jewelry, head bands) for people to look at. I thought that was nice. Ya know, help out new people that may have the jitters get the run off their mind while waiting for the race to start.
We, the pacers lined up and waited for the crowds to form around us. I had lots of people ask why I was holding a sign and explained what I was doing. I was more often then not greeted with an excited face. As we waited they blared music. I tried to shout, clap, and bounce my sign up and down to help get the people around me pumped. I wouldn't say I was a cheer"leader" but I defiantly added a lil something ;)
One of the individuals that released the corrals was one of the former contestants from the show. Not ever seeing the show I was unaware of who he was but I heard tons of people around me talking about him with tons of excitement I must add.
Then the race started. I wasn't really sure how to pace 15 at first. Is it a slow jog? A fast walk? An interval? I ended up walking fast. I was in the back of my corral and like with most races all the people around me took off and I was walking solo.
It wasn't until around a mile in one lady joined me. She came from North Carolina and was a HUGE BL fan. She had lost over 40 pounds and this was her first ever 10k. Of course this warmed my little ginger kid heart right up. A little while later a group of Black Girls Run were right behind me "taunting me" that they were gonna catch me. I played right back!
I had a small group for a while. Most of the BGR passed me :) and my NC runner friend stayed with me. The first 3 miles were different. You were in a parking lot and it was like a maze you had to run through. Actually, it was kinda cool to see all of the different paces and since it was maze you passed a ton of other runners who cheered for you. After I want to say 3 miles you entered the park. You got to run by all the roller coasters and actually run around the carousel which for some reason just made me light up.
My pace group (NC Runner Woman) was awesome. It took me a little while to gauge if she wanted to talk, focus or what. But once I realized she was down for a conversation I did what I could to pump her up and keep the conversation going.
It wasn't until the very end where there was a a challenginig hill that I lost her. Even then she did catch up me-determination people!
I did finish a little ahead of her but I waited at the finish line. Soon as she saw me she gave me a HUGE hug. It was so exciting to see her finish. They gave out medals for the race which made it even better. She had talked about how she couldn't wait to get it and how she was going to wear it all day. I loved it. It was exactly what I did when I ran my first race.
It was a great race, I checked the prices to run and they weren't bad at all. Not to mention, you got a medal and a nice shirt. Typically, you don't get medals for 10ks or 5ks unless you place so I thought it was great that this race that promotes wellness and personal accomplishment had finishers medals.
Defiantly a race I would recommend especially for first timers. Oh, and pacing was awesome.
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| Photo credit: http://www.marontherun.com/2013/07/ |
Have you ever paced?
Ever ran a BL event- I heard they have half marathons too.
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