BEIJING: As marathons gain popularity in leaps and bounds across China, a special group of runners, known as “bunnies” or “pacers”, are becoming popular among participants. Unlike regular runners, these pacers stand out with their distinct uniforms, bunny ear headbands and a flag or balloon on their backs displaying target finish times.
These “running metronomes “serve as a marathon’s rhythm keepers, helping participants maintain a desired pace throughout the 42.195-kilometer course and increase their chances of completing successfully. There are different groups of pacers in a marathon, with varying target finish times. For example, runners who follow the “4:30 pacer group” would expect to complete the race in approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes.
“Organizers of marathon events typically select experienced athletes as pacers. They must have completed at least three marathons before and have a finish time at least 15 minutes faster than the pace they are guiding,” Pan Quan, who has been selected twice as “sweeper rabbit” for those aiming to finish within the official cutoff time for two marathons, told China Daily. “Pacers are typically seasoned marathon runners, with personal bests much faster than the group target time. Therefore, the most challenging part of being a pacer is slowing down,” Wang Chaoyang, a national senior marathon coach at Shanghai University of Sport, was quoted as saying by Xinmin Evening News.
“Maintaining a slower pace to guide others requires exceptional speed control skills,” Wang said.
A head coach of pacers for marathons, Wang requires his trainees to keep a close eye on their watch and speed markers along the way to ensure that their pace doesn’t vary by more than 3 seconds per km and that the total time deviation for the entire race is kept within 5 seconds.
Apart from excellent pacing skills and the ability to adjust on the fly, pacers also need to motivate participants, using verbal and nonverbal cues to boost their morale and resilience, Pan said. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
