I was always puzzled as to why the greatest runners in the world needed pace teams to aid in their achievement of victories or records. If anyone new how to hit a pace and stick with it, it would be them. There are some obvious advantages, if it’s windy the pacers would shield you for instance. But there is actually more to it then that. It gets back to my article on pacing practice for marathons and being able to run at a sub conscious level. When you are with runners of like ability and time goals within a race you almost share the role of staying on pace. Once the pace is settled, the rhythm of the turnover and the breathing through the group provide a baseline to adhere to, like dancing to the beat of a song, you don’t need to continually count your steps, you will just begin to follow the music. In the Edmonton marathon I really experienced this phenomenon first hand. Pacing a runner for 2/3 of the Edmonton marathon I truly discovered what I was providing him based on what I was experiencing. At Chicago I really enjoyed this phenomenon to a whole new level. Being part of such a big race there were many runners all around the pace I was targeting providing a group at times of up to 4 to 6 runners. These points of the race felt like they used up so much less mental and physical energy with all the runners just feeding off of one another. I think initially there can be the desire to get out alone, possibly just feeling uncomfortable shoulder to shoulder, or thinking the group may hold you up or take you off your pace. It is very worthwhile to try and settle in with a group for as long as you can. When I look back it was these stages of the race that seemed like they took nothing from the body.