Paid to set the pace, runners act like human metronomes
“A pacer, as much as anything, is someone you know you’re going to run with.” ERIC GILLIS MARATHONER
Julius Kogo bumped along rough roads in a minivan for seven hours to get from his training base in southwestern Kenya to Nairobi, then spent 16 hours on planes to get to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
But when the 30-year old steps across the start line on Sunday, he’ll have no expectations of winning or even finishing the 42.2-kilometre race. He isn’t paid to do that. Kogo’s job is to set the pace for Canadian Eric Gillis, who is trying to qualify for the Rio Olympics. Around the 30-kilometre mark, Kogo will step off the course and leave the Guelph-based runner to tackle the gruelling final stretch alone.
Elite pacers aren’t the same as “pace bunnies” — who wear paper ears marked with a racer’s target time, and help recreational runners get to the finish line. Pacers such as Kogo are hired to ensure fast times and entice elite racers to run in Toronto.
Pacers have been commonplace since Sir Roger Bannister used them to break the four-minute barrier in the mile in 1954, but they still aren’t universally embraced. Toronto is the only stop among the four prestigious IAAF gold label races in the Americas that still has them. Boston and New York don’t allow them, and last weekend Chicago organizers made it clear that they felt competition was more compelling when runners compete more against each other and less against the clock.
Still, in races where fast times are paramount, including Berlin and London, pacers seem destined to stay — though not always for the reasons you might expect.
There is the obvious physical benefit, but it’s nothing like cycling, where racers can conserve as much as 40 per cent of their energy by drafting behind others. At Gillis’ regular speed — about three minutes and six seconds per kilometre — he could drop 20 to 30 seconds by tucking behind a pacer to cut down on wind resistance, says his coach, Dave Scott-Thomas.
Every little bit counts, as Gillis knows that better than most having qualified for the London Olympics by a single second. But to get the physical benefits Scott-Thomas is talking about, athletes would have to run every step right behind a pacer. Canada’s best in this field, Gillis and national women’s record-holder Lanni Marchant, don’t intend to do that.
“I’m used to running beside guys,” Gillis says, “so I’m going to talk to (Kogo) and run beside him more than him in front of me.”
Still, the personal pacer here was one of the big draws for Gillis, so what is the benefit?
“There are only so many people on the line that are going to run at my level and they can get spread out pretty quick,” he says, “so a pacer, as much as anything, is someone you know you’re going to run with.”
Beyond that, Kogo is another set of eyes on the clock. It’s all too easy for marathoners to lose focus for an important kilometre or two. With a pacer, “the chances are you’ll stay on the pace through those lonely stretches,” Gillis says.
Kogo, the eldest of nine siblings, has been running since elementary school — including a total of 16 kilometres a day to and from the school- house. He went on to represent his school at the national level — akin to junior hockey stardom in Canada — and now makes his living racing shorter distances and acting as a metronome for others. He has yet to run a full marathon.
A pacer’s salary is usually thousands of dollars, including a base rate plus distance bonuses — going 32 kilometres, for example, earns more than stepping off at the 30-kilometre mark.
It’s a lot less than the winner will get — $20,000, with potential bonuses that could take it to $70,000 — but a pacer’s pay could equal the fifthplace finisher. In a deep, fast field, the pacer can also make connections that lead to more work.
“Pacing is easier and it’s not easier,” Kogo says, explaining his craft.
Factors include the weather (he grimaces at the memory of last year’s cold and windy conditions), how fast he’s asked to run, and how far he goes. For elite runners, the first 30 kilometres are relatively easy. It’s after that point when the body starts to strain.
Last year, Kogo got Gillis to 32 kilometres before dropping off. This year, he says, “I’d like to go farther.”
This is Kogo’s sixth year of pacing in Toronto and he’s ramping up his training mileage for what he hopes will soon be his own racing debut.
“Maybe next year, God willing, I’ll try to finish it,” he says, smiling.