Run like a Hare
Pacemakers are the running chronometers of the top athletes. For the fast Frankfurt course, they are of special importance.
It is a paradox of the conditioning sport. The Kenyans are some of the fastest runners in the world, they break records and win titles. But their feel for the pace is miserable. Carsten Eich, who ran a 2:10:22 marathon as the German marathon record holder, explained that Kenyans don’t train with a running watch.
But you need this Chronometers, to be exact from kilometer to kilometer if you plan your race accordingly. You only need this, if you are going to be an orientations helper for other athletes, in other words as a Pacemaker. Without their help, this extra amount of motivation, the slipstream they offer, the mental help the offer that is a big relief and to keep the pace as agree upon constant, practically none of today’s records would have fallen. The athlete can concentrate on themselves and the competition on the road – for the fast pace, that’s what the pacemaker is there for. You can’t help it, but to use Kenyans as pacemakers, because, aside from the Ethiopians, only eastern African athletes are able to take on high tempo necessary for a high-class race such as the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon. This is a contradiction to the saying: Without them nothing more runs, but the running according to plan is a lot harder to implement. This is why Christoph Kopp as a sporting director of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon must have a good mixture in the selection of the pacemakers, he must be able to assess their performance and their qualifications to meet the requirements. These requirements are put together in accordance to the performance of the obligated top athletes. If an organizer can only oblige athletes who reach a finishing time of 2:10 hours, they need other pacemakers than in a Frankfurt race in which the winner is to be at 2:06 or faster.
And in Frankfurt is about a fast time for years now. There will be 3 running groups set up, for which a maximum of 3 pacemakers are responsible- that is part of the rules of the International Athletic Group. Group 1 should be at the half marathon mark at exactly 63 min, group 2 in 64 and group 3 in 65 min and 30 sec. “For me it is important that a constant tempo is ran”, says Kopp. That why it’s his job on the day of the race to sit in the motorcycle and keep a close eye on the agreed upon pace. If it’s a tick to slow, he will step in, also if it’s too fast. It can also happen that the pacemaker gets caught up in the atmosphere from the crowd and then he starts to get faster and faster.
But there is no place for one’s personal goals on this day. It is agreed upon beforehand who leads the group for the first half, who until kilometer 25 and who until kilometer 30. For this duty, they will be paid accordingly to the time of their time on the field. Whoever is able to do a bit more then what was agreed upon will be rewarded with a bonus for each extra kilometer ran. But if the pacemakers bow out earlier, there bonus will be lessened.
Officially, the pacemakers are participants like every other, theoretically, they can also run across the finish. And when the pacemaker is still going strong and no one else can keep up with them, then okay, then they can go for the winner premium. This is something to think about, but this is rare. “When one of them says, they want to continue, then I’m not stopping him.”, says Kopp. The plan however is that the stars win. And then at around kilometer 30 the runners are among themselves. The pacemaker after his work, steps in the small bus that is waiting for him at the kilometer marker that was expected and from there, they will be driven the fastest way possible to the finish or in the athlete’s hotel.
Something a little different is the from the women, they can theoretically also have many pacemakers, because they need to stay near faster men. But the top athletes don’t rely upon such opportunities, many of them bring their personal pacer with them. This is allowed, but it has to be talked with beforehand with Christoph Kopp.
There is still the question, why Wilson Kipsang 2012 as winner in Frankfurt, why he missed the world record by only 4 seconds. Was it because of the pacemaker? “No”, said Kopp, “up to kilometer 33, he was still there, and everything was going perfectly. At kilometer 36, Kipsang shook off the last of his opposition and continued on alone. It just wasn’t fast enough. It was because of the diminishing strength and not because of not knowing the time.
