I find it rewarding personally to sacrifice my time and offer up my skills as a runner to help others realize their goals. The temperatures where ideal, while I knew that the wind was going to be a challenge in the second half as the course turned back toward the finish. As such, my plan was to be about a minute ahead of pace at the half way mark, which I felt would give the group the best chance to finish under the goal time. Each mile I watched the pace and tried to coach the runners on what to expect with the course, fueling, tangents, etc. Rolling through 13.1 miles we were right on at 1:34:08 as we ran south bound on Bailey Cove. I was very happy to see that we still had a group of about 25 people running together.
As expected, the futher we ran, the small the group got as slowly runners fell off of pace. I tried to let them know that based on experience that that the turn onto Bailey Cove would be directly into a headwind and that we needed to run single-file, stride for stride staying together and drafting. I began to work a lot harder driving into the wind to stay even pace, but most of the runners fell behind. By the time I made the turn through the neighborhood and approached the hill on Chicamauga Trail, none of my original group remained.
I had picked up several new runners that had gone out ahead of schedule and now slowed down. I carried a few of them for several miles at a time and one even stayed with me step for step through to the finish! (48 year old Robby Callahan of Prattville, Alabama)
I slowed slightly through the hills (from miles 21-25) but still stayed on overall pace and proudly finished at 3:09:29, staying mostly even (1:34:08 / 1:35:21) in the first and second halves.
Robby did say to me toward the end "that this must be easy for you guys". I laughed a little... running a marathon is never easy, not matter what the finishing time is when you have to run even pace, especially on a course that has some rolling hills and a headwind in the last 10 miles. Yet on this day, that was my job and I gladly accepted the challenge!
| Mile | Split | Total | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7:14.47 | 0:07:14 | 0:07:14 |
| 2 | 7:10.38 | 0:14:25 | 0:07:12 |
| 3 | 7:10.00 | 0:21:35 | 0:07:12 |
| 4 | 7:06.30 | 0:28:41 | 0:07:10 |
| 5 | 7:13.82 | 0:35:55 | 0:07:11 |
| 6 | 7:13.17 | 0:43:08 | 0:07:11 |
| 7 | 7:06.76 | 0:50:15 | 0:07:11 |
| 8 | 7:12.97 | 0:57:28 | 0:07:11 |
| 9 | 7:12.35 | 1:04:40 | 0:07:11 |
| 10 | 7:08.43 | 1:11:49 | 0:07:11 |
| 11 | 7:10.60 | 1:18:59 | 0:07:11 |
| 12 | 7:08.73 | 1:26:08 | 0:07:11 |
| 13 | 7:08.37 | 1:33:16 | 0:07:10 |
| 14 | 7:10.30 | 1:40:27 | 0:07:10 |
| 15 | 7:08.98 | 1:47:36 | 0:07:10 |
| 16 | 7:08.92 | 1:54:45 | 0:07:10 |
| 17 | 7:13.06 | 2:01:58 | 0:07:10 |
| 18 | 7:11.74 | 2:09:09 | 0:07:11 |
| 19 | 7:12.95 | 2:16:22 | 0:07:11 |
| 20 | 7:15.85 | 2:23:38 | 0:07:11 |
| 21 | 7:20.41 | 2:30:59 | 0:07:11 |
| 22 | 7:21.69 | 2:38:20 | 0:07:12 |
| 23 | 7:22.00 | 2:45:42 | 0:07:12 |
| 24 | 7:24.58 | 2:53:07 | 0:07:13 |
| 25 | 7:33.45 | 3:00:40 | 0:07:14 |
| 26 | 7:16.45 | 3:07:57 | 0:07:14 |
| 26.2 | 1:33.52 | 3:09:30 | 0:07:14 |
As for the Nike Fleet Feet Pacers, I am glad to report that their average was being UNDER by 42 seconds with some staying under by as close as 5, 7, 9 and 15 seconds to their goal time. Jay Lloyd even went as far as running even first and second half splits of 1:47:05/1:47:05. While not many runners stayed with the pace group leaders after mile 15 (turn into the wind) the pacers stayed even through to the end. This was tough to "leave" the runners as they slowed, but other runners (ahead) were also counting on the pacers to come in right on pace. A couple pacers just missed their times but wasn't due to fitness, but to watch/GPS issues and we did not have any complaints that I heard in these areas.
I am very proud of this team as running even pace for 26.2 miles doesn't just happen on race day; it takes practice and months of training. Many of these pacers have already asked to be involved next year. I think they felt this personally rewarding to put others needs and goals above their own.
| Pacer | Pace Group | Chip Time | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dewayne Satterfield | 3:05 | 3:04:29 | 31 seconds under |
| Eric Charette | 3:10 | 3:09:29 | 31 seconds under |
| David O'Keefe | 3:15 | 3:14:45 | 15 seconds under |
| Brett Addington | 3:25 | 3:24:35 | 25 seconds under |
| Eric Patterson | 3:30 | 3:29:09 | 51 seconds under |
| Jay Lloyd | 3:35 | 3:33:57 | 1 minute 3 seconds under |
| Adam Swann | 3:40 | 3:39:34 | 26 seconds under |
| David Rawlings | 3:45 | 3:44:53 | 7 seconds under |
| Katie Maehlmann | 3:55 | 3:55:50 | 50 seconds over |
| Christy Scott | 4:00 | 3:57:35 | 2 minutes 25 seconds under |
| Tom Gale | 4:10 | 4:11:00 | 1 minute under |
| Bryan Campbell | 4:25 | 4:24:01 | 59 seconds under |
| Linda Scavarda | 4:25 | 4:24:51 | 9 seconds under |
| David Coon | 4:40 | 4:39:55 | 5 seconds under |
| Shawn Smith | 4:40 | 4:40:07 | 7 seconds over |
| Suzanne Erickson | 4:55 | 4:54:03 | 57 seconds under |
| Carrie Wilson | 4:55 | 4:54:03 | 57 seconds under |