Pacing was awesome, San Fran was awesome, The marathon was awesome, the expo was original.
I was excited to meet some bloggers. Hopefully I will meet them again at a race in the future and have more free time to spend with them.
My only disappointments were the following:
The club run corral. From a pacer point of view this was just plain stupid. I probably lost a lot of runners because of this set up. Hopefully next year they will do something a little different. Perhaps have multiple club run areas in each corral so that runners are still lined up according to appropriate pace.
No official pacer Tee. I was more than ecstatic to accept all the fun Nike Schwag that was given to the pacers. But if I was in charge I would have included an official pacer technical tee with the marathon logo on it and something signifying that we were pacers on the back. And I would have made the shirt match the shorts they gave us to run in! I consider it a major faux pas to wear a mismatched outfit on race day! So glad I had my own Nike tank that matched the shorts.
No pace bands to give to runners. We had a ton of runners ask for pace bands and had to reply by suggesting they print them online. Not exactly what someone wants to hear when they are staying at a hotel and have no printer access.
Other than that I would highly recommend this race. Not as a BQ or PR attempt but as a wonderful course with spectacular views. Also I took pride in pacing for a race that was completely created to fund raise for a cause. Props to Nike for creating a race especially for TNT.
10 comments:
I ran the race and somehow I didn't know it was created for TNT. How'd I miss that?
I loved it too - totally agree with you on the part about not running for a PR, but for the sheer fun and beauty of it. I'll do it again.
The sign must have been hard to carry - I think a distinctive shirt or hat - so we could see you in the crowd - would be great. Margaret actually spotted you on the Great Highway - we were heading out, you were heading in, but by the time I figured out who she was talking about (she was saying "There's 3:50!) you were past.
It was great fun meeting you!
i'm with back of pack.
that stick was above and beyond. i know it would be hard probably to make up each pacer shirt with a time, but, i think there must be some kinda iron on solution or something!
This race is surely one to revisit!
I was wondering why I kept getting stuck behind walkers who were so far ahead of me. Until you had mentioned it, I didn't realize that exclusive corral had walkers and runners mixed in. This affected my time. I also had to deal with congestion at the very end, and could not put on the speed at the last mile. This was due to the cute guys in tuxes standing RIGHT after the finish line. Most chipped events have that area clear and move the runners through quickly so that it doesn't clog up like it did. I agree that they should give the pacers special outfits or shirts so that they're easily spotted. I'd love that at any big race. This race is still relatively new, and I'm sure they'll eventually work out all the kinks. It was one of the best race experiences I've had, regardless of the kinks. Next time I plan on spending more time in SF so I can really enjoy everything the event had to offer. :)
The best part was getting to meet with everyone, however so short a time to do so! It was great meeting you, too.
I *heart* my finisher's necklace!
I'll have to add it to my wishlist for future races...I gotta get away from doing the same races every year.
E-Speed, if you want to come to GR next year and be a pacer, I can get that arranged! I'm sure you can beat Oprah's team or even P-Diddy or Will Ferrell.
It's great to hear the pros and cons of this race. How I wish I were there in your pace group! You are such an inspiration, those were some lucky ladies running with you!!
Glad you enjoyed your SF experience so much! I agree you must have been a way cool pace group leader! Even as a guy, I also agree on not mismatching my running outfits for any runs.
PS...Glad you're back here and safe, wake up today and hear about 5.6 magnitude earthquake in SF Bay area...glad you missed that!!
Hey, had a quick question for you, how do you "register" to be a pacer for a marathon...just curious how that works, please contact me if you can, thank you!!
Your stories and play-by-play of your races are awesome!
Tony told me he learned so much from you E that he will use this weekend pacing at NYC. He is my hero! I think I get to take him to the airport in the morning....I was teasing him today because i drove by him while he was running and picked on him for his "slow" pace as he was setting his pace to his group pace for the weekend.....much slower than his normal effort.
Post a Comment