This past weekend I participated in my sixth career marathon, the 6th annual ING Miami Marathon, but more importantly it was my first time leading a pace group for ANY type of race. I was tasked with escorting any and all runners who wished to complete the 26.2 mile course, or the 13.1 half-marathon course, from the pre-dawn start, along the beautiful tour of the Miami neighborhoods, and through the finish line in an 8 minute/mile pace (which equates to 3:30 for the full 26.2 mile marathon).
This pace is roughly 10% slower than the pace from my all-time best finish (3:11:15) and was in no way, shape, or form "easy" for me. But at the same time, it wasn't necessarily "hard" because I was absolutely buoyed by the hopes and dreams of the runners I was pacing towards their target time. The conversations held on the run coupled with the sight-seeing experience from crossing the causeways, following Collins Ave, snaking through Coconut Grove, and the pure exhilaration of passing through the "scream tunnel" just made the miles melt away. However, this New England boy made sure to take full advantage of every single one of those 22 hydration stations, the Clif Shot gel stops, and the random orange slices and bananas because the 72-degree race temperature was a long way from the 30-degree conditions I had been (and continue) training in back in Boston. I was a mobile salt-lick by the time I reached mile 16 and was very thankful for the short walk between the finish line and my hotel room at the
Intercontinental Miami so that I could rinse off and change into some dry clean clothes before celebrating with the other runners.
It was a great experience and I look forward to my next opportunity to pace at the New Jersey Marathon on May 4, 2008 (13 days after the Boston Marathon).
