The Pacers
mile marker. That is because you have ran a little bit extra. So if you had targeted 8 minute mile pace to get 3 Hour 30 minute marathon time in a race the pace that will appear on your watch to get under the 3 hour 30 will most likely be somewhere around 7.55 pace and will go as fast as 7.50 or even 7.45 at times. On downhills pace may naturally pick up also. Also consider that at certain times in the race you may struggle but you may regain momentum later. It would be a bad choice at times when you are struggling to religiously keep step for step with the pacer if you are not able to do so. It would be wiser in these circumstance just to keep the pacer within vision maybe allow a little gap to appear and close this gap on a downhill or at a time when you are feeling better. The pacer may also bag a tiny bit of time to allow runners to slow down slightly running up the two hills towards the end of the course when they might be struggling. Pacers will gain this time evenly over the first 16 miles or so of the race. It would be common for pacers to be 1 minute ahead of time coming into mile 16 to allow some time be lost over the last two hills which can be challenging. It won’t seem like you are slowing down though as effort levels will be very high at this stage.
How to Use the Pacer & What to Consider:
When deciding whether to follow a pacer or not a runner should take a few things into consideration and understand how the pacer is measuring his/her pace. The pacer will use their GPS watch as a guide only and will be measuring pace accurately from mile markings marked on the road. Runners need to understand that some miles can in fact be longer than others on their GPS if there are many twists and turns in a particular mile. It is not uncommon for a runner to run 26.4 miles or more in the Cork City Marathon or similar Boston qualifier events as the course is measured to a high degree of accuracy. A runner will not always follow the shortest route and at times will run wide due to the crowd or just naturally. Therefore the difference between 26.21 and 26.4 miles will also need to be taken into consideration when pacing accurately. You will find that the first few miles you run in cork are actually longer than miles at the end due to runner congestion and twists and turns on the course. So your own GPS may have you running 10 seconds faster than your target pace and beeping well in advance of the
62 Cork City Marathon 2026
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