2013 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend:Pace Bunny Team Report

[canalrunner]

Since I have been organizing the pacers at Army Run and Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, I have taken to doing "accountability" reports after to let people know how the pacers did. I also award a bag of carrots and golden ears (to wear in next year's race) to the best pacers in each race. My assessment is that this year's team was likely the best since I started organizing.

In the 10k, 10 out 11 pacers were within a minute of their times, 9 out of 11 were within 30 seconds. Judy Andrew Piel was not a bad bunny coming at 60 minutes within .3 second of her time to win a bag of carrots and a set of golden ears for next year's race. The other 60 minute pacers get honourable mention. Chris Bright was .6 second of the time, while James Wildsmith was 1.2 second.

In the half marathon, 17 out of 20 pacers were within 1 minute of their times, 15 out of 20 were within 30 seconds, 18 out of 20 were within 90 seconds of their time. Darcia Kmet won the Golden Ears for the second year in a row coming with 1.2 seconds of her time as the 1:55 pacer. Honourable mention goes to Eric Maniloff also at 1:55 who came within 1.6 seconds and Ian Boyle who came within 1.6 seconds.

In the marathon, 13 out of 19 pacers were within 1 minute of their times, 12 out of 19 were within 30 seconds and 15 out of 19 pacers were within 90 seconds of their time. Joanne Bradley within .5 second of her time at 4:45 pace time nipped Ezio Costanza (3:30 pacer) for the coveted Golden Ears (he was .8 second away)

In the Running Mania category: Erin was 14.4 seconds from time as the 3:35 pacer, I was 12.4 seconds away as the 4:00 pacer and Lisa wins RM bragging rights coming within 11.6 seconds of her time.

It was another great weekend of running in Ottawa. Largest marathon in Canada. 45,000 runners in the various events. Tons of fans. Lots of volunteers to thank.

[Jo-Jo]

Thanks for the report.
Good job Bunnies!
And good job Mark...I know it takes a lot of work to organize this.

[Habs4ever]

Those are seriously impressive Bunny results. Congratulations to all!!

[Robinandamelia]

Fantastic bunnies!

[erinmcd]

I had such a great time as a pace bunny yesterday. I've bunnied a couple of times before for the PEC 1/2, which is a pretty different experience- way fewer people, and I didn't feel quite the same pressure to make sure I got people in for the their BQ time.

I had a big group with me for most of the race- not sure exactly how many, but probably more than 50 at most times, with a about 15-20 who stuck right with me for the majority of the race, several of whom were going for BQs. Around 38K the group started to change a bit- a few of them picked up the pace and took off, one or two of the ones who had been with me from the start dropped back a bit, and I started to pick up quite a few people who had been ahead of me but were starting to fade. Those last 4-5 km were the best- from the National Gallery all the way to the finish, the crowds were amazing. It was really hard not to get carried away with the energy and drop the hammer! As soon as I crossed the line, I had so many people coming up to me to say thanks, shake hands, give hugs- it was great. Being a pace bunny is as close to being a celebrity as I'll ever get.

Thanks Mark for organizing the pacing team. Everything was very well organized and very well communicated- I'll be back again for sure.

[Miss*Smiles]

WAY TO GO BUNNIES!!

(And Mark, congrats to you!)

[Pat29]

Great job organizing once agan Mark.

[scrumhalfgirl]

congrats and thanks for all you do!

[Stampie]

Pace bunnies, the unsung heroes!

It sure sounds like you have a great group of bunnies, sure makes your job of organizing much easier.

[purdy65]

Mark,

Thanks for letting me join your pace party! I was sooooo nervous, as this was my debut, but I somehow managed to find the pace and click it in. The people around me were fantastic, and I found out only after the race, how many people actually had their eye on me! People came up to me in the finish chute, the food area, even at the Fox and Feather afterwards!

I found as much pride in hitting my pace, and helping so many others, as I did in any PB I've gotten.

I'm hoping to be back next year!

[Ken B]

Great job again, Mark!! Congratulations to all the pace bunnies. special kudos to my friend , Lisa!!

[Marg]

Great job Mark and bunnies. I was so glad you had a walk break just as you reached the top of my street, Mark!

[canalrunner]

I had such a great time as a pace bunny yesterday. I've bunnied a couple of times before for the PEC 1/2, which is a pretty different experience- way fewer people, and I didn't feel quite the same pressure to make sure I got people in for the their BQ time.

I had a big group with me for most of the race- not sure exactly how many, but probably more than 50 at most times, with a about 15-20 who stuck right with me for the majority of the race, several of whom were going for BQs. Around 38K the group started to change a bit- a few of them picked up the pace and took off, one or two of the ones who had been with me from the start dropped back a bit, and I started to pick up quite a few people who had been ahead of me but were starting to fade. Those last 4-5 km were the best- from the National Gallery all the way to the finish, the crowds were amazing. It was really hard not to get carried away with the energy and drop the hammer! As soon as I crossed the line, I had so many people coming up to me to say thanks, shake hands, give hugs- it was great. Being a pace bunny is as close to being a celebrity as I'll ever get.

Thanks Mark for organizing the pacing team. Everything was very well organized and very well communicated- I'll be back again for sure.

Thanks for your help. You did great. I may see you at PEC. Would love to pace but I am running with my son--almost as much fun as pacing.

[ratherawkward]

I'm blown away by how accurate the bunnies were! Well done, all!

[jes]

Mark, were you the 4 hr walk/run bunny? That group was driving me bananas for the first 25k!!! I was running continuous, but I'd get ahead of the bunny group every time they stopped to walk. Problem was that every time they'd pass me, it was like a swarming, then when they'd walk suddenly, I was stuck in the pack. It was terrible! Not criticizing your bunny skills - it was just a massive group!!

Judy and Chris should be given an award for funnies bunnies -- I love seeing what costume they come up with every year! "Bad bunnies" were awesome!

[canalrunner]

Mark, were you the 4 hr walk/run bunny? That group was driving me bananas for the first 25k!!! I was running continuous, but I'd get ahead of the bunny group every time they stopped to walk. Problem was that every time they'd pass me, it was like a swarming, then when they'd walk suddenly, I was stuck in the pack. It was terrible! Not criticizing your bunny skills - it was just a massive group!!

Judy and Chris should be given an award for funnies bunnies -- I love seeing what costume they come up with every year! "Bad bunnies" were awesome!

Yes, I was that bunny. It was huge group especially at the first. Most did a good job of pulling to the side for walk breaks but the sheer size makes it difficult. I tended run one side of the road as the 10:1 pacer and the continuous pacer ran the other side of the road.

[jes]

Mark, were you the 4 hr walk/run bunny? That group was driving me bananas for the first 25k!!! I was running continuous, but I'd get ahead of the bunny group every time they stopped to walk. Problem was that every time they'd pass me, it was like a swarming, then when they'd walk suddenly, I was stuck in the pack. It was terrible! Not criticizing your bunny skills - it was just a massive group!!

Judy and Chris should be given an award for funnies bunnies -- I love seeing what costume they come up with every year! "Bad bunnies" were awesome!

Yes, I was that bunny. It was huge group especially at the first. Most did a good job of pulling to the side for walk breaks but the sheer size makes it difficult. I tended run one side of the road as the 10:1 pacer and the continuous pacer ran the other side of the road.

Yes, most did a good job of getting off to the side, I think it was just the size of the group that made it an issue for those of us who kept getting sucked into the vortex.

[GarminGeek]

I'd like to add, that while the 3:40 bunny actually finished in 3:35:xx, he helped me get 3:39:xx ! And, I noticed that he took a large group of us to either better than 3:40 or 3:40 + 2mins. I stayed with him until 35k, but he seemed to have one extra gear more than me. I always fade on long runs anyways, so the little bit of time-in-the-bank was a blessing for me. Thanks to Bunny Dan. (and to Running Room, and yourself for providing the bunnies).

[Jogger Barbie]

Thanks for the report. What an amazing group of pace bunnies! I am always so impressed (and inspired) by people who can pace so well. Extra congrats to the people like Lisa and Erin who were pacing those distances for the first time and did such a wonderful job.

And a big thank you, in general, to everyone who ever volunteers as a pace bunny. I have been helped by them more than once, and am grateful that you people give your time and energy so that other people have a great race.

[Irongirl]

Hey Mark,

do you ever do an actual "pace" look - like like at the split times as well?

The reason I ask is that I'll never forget hearing about a bunny that arrived at the finish line a good 3 minutes ahead and then ran back to help people in before their time....and then finished right at their finish time.

I guess it's just jaded me when I see that bunnies finished as exactly their time - if they didn't actually "pace" it properly, then, it's not really accurate, kwim?

[Jo-Jo]

Hey Mark,

do you ever do an actual "pace" look - like like at the split times as well?

The reason I ask is that I'll never forget hearing about a bunny that arrived at the finish line a good 3 minutes ahead and then ran back to help people in before their time....and then finished right at their finish time.

I guess it's just jaded me when I see that bunnies finished as exactly their time - if they didn't actually "pace" it properly, then, it's not really accurate, kwim?

Interesting question...I'll be interested to see Mark's response.

Last year someone I know "bragged" on FB about having to wait for 10 minutes so she could "bring" her gang home "on time" (I believe she stood on the course...and then crossed at the proper time). This annoyed me...and I confess...I did let her know that I didn't consider this proper pacing.

p.s. I can't even remember what race this friend was pacing at...don't think it was ORW.

[canalrunner]

Hey Mark,

do you ever do an actual "pace" look - like like at the split times as well?

The reason I ask is that I'll never forget hearing about a bunny that arrived at the finish line a good 3 minutes ahead and then ran back to help people in before their time....and then finished right at their finish time.

I guess it's just jaded me when I see that bunnies finished as exactly their time - if they didn't actually "pace" it properly, then, it's not really accurate, kwim?

Interesting question...I'll be interested to see Mark's response.

Last year someone I know "bragged" on FB about having to wait for 10 minutes so she could "bring" her gang home "on time" (I believe she stood on the course...and then crossed at the proper time). This annoyed me...and I confess...I did let her know that I didn't consider this proper pacing.

p.s. I can't even remember what race this friend was pacing at...don't think it was ORW.

A couple of random thoughts. I publish the results and share them with the pacers because I think the times have become better as a result. (I also recruit early and make people apply for the same reason) Coming close to the target time at the end is just one way of assessing a good pacer. That is why I keep it as a fun competition with a bag of carrots and golden ears rather than a pair of shoes. I haven't checked split times in part because I have 55 pacers, hate math and spend fair too much time already on organizing pacers. I would suspect that most pacers are pretty close to their half split times--perhaps banking a minute in the marathon (I think I had 40 seconds) It would be easy for someone to do the check at race weekend as every pacer has the first name of bunny and there is access to sportstats.(I.e. I'm not planning on doing it) I certainly discourage the waiting at the finish line approach to pacing. Likely it still happens. I suppose running back and encouraging people who were running with you towards the finish line isn't the worst thing you could do--hopefully not for 10 minutes. Standing at the line makes no one look good. As the pacers know I send out a lot of emails about race and the expectations. I also discourage people coming in 12 minutes ahead of time or late because they were pacing a group and not to time. Usually I find the slower pacers actually have more difficulty hitting their time--it was interesting this year that the 445 pacer was the best in marathon.

[purdy65]

At 10k I was a teensy bit fast @ 1:03:19. That's maybe 40 seconds banked,but I knew I might take an extra water stop in the last half.

Out of curiosity I looked at the split of the other pacers, and I see no evidence of a huge positive split situation. Most looked really good. The 4 of us 2:15s were very close at the 10k and finish.

I have heard of the 'standing at the finish' happening though. I would feel terrible doing that.

[scrumhalfgirl]

1:45 half bunny told us that she would run the first 10km a bit under pace, to account for the easier first half (plus excitement of crowds) and slower, hillier second half. I thought that was fine - and she was transparent with everyone around about her plan. Even pacing doesn't necessarily mean exactly even splits.

[erinmcd]

I was under pace for the first km or 2 (due to congestion early on) then worked my way down to the target pace by about 4km, and held steady the rest of the way. I wanted to run it at 5:03/km, which is a bit under 3:35 pace, but I figured that you never get all the tangents right, so if I stuck right at 3:35 pace we'd come in over time.

We dipped down to 5:02 a couple of times, and hit 5:04 briefly once later in the race (around 36K I think), and then finished with a 5:03 avg (by my garmin). Once we got settled in at about 4km I don't think we went more than 1 second either way (for overall average) from 5:03. Oddly though, sportstats shows that the avg pace is 5:06/km.

My splits (according to sportstats) were:

10K- 50:51
1/2- 1:47:32
30K- 2:33:13
Full- 3:34:45

I was very careful to make sure I kept it as even as possible. I knew the top priority was to get to the finish line just under (within a minute) of my target time, but just as important was to get there with an even pace in order to make it as easy as possible for my group to follow me.