My First Official Marathon Pacer Assignment

Lucky Break

Good fortune must have been smiling down on me because it so happened that Dirigo Events (SCKLM Organiser) were coincidentally searching for additional new SCKLM 2016 Pacers. Armed with only 8 Full Marathon under my belt, I applied for the job without any high expectations. To my delight, I was invited by Dirigo Events for two Pacer Training sessions which was conducted by SCKLM Head Running Coach, Mark Williams. These sessions were used to assess and evaluate the candidates to determine if they had what it takes to be a Pacer.

Practical Test

In June, I attended the Pacer Training sessions which also coincided with the SCKLM Running Clinics at Bukit Jalil Park. In total, there were 28 pacers divided into Finishing Times of 3:30, 4:00, 4:30, 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, 6:30 and 7:00 hours respectively. My 7 hours group consisted of experienced pacers Alwin Tan from Penang, Chooi Wan from KL, and Barkely Wong from Klang.

Coach Mark made us run 4 loops totaling 10km at our fixed pace. For my group, our pace was 9 minutes and 57 seconds per kilometer. Fortunately, we were only a few seconds off our pace which was still within the permitted guidelines. Mark explained, “At any time during the race, if a pacer is running outside 5 minutes of their expected Finishing Time, then they must release the balloon in order to avoid confusing runners”.

Coach Mark also reminded the slower pacers to give ourselves more time in order to take into account such factors as more time will be taken to reach the Start Line from the back of the starting pen, and the extra time needed for brief stops at each water station for a quick drink.

Pacer Kit

One of the privileges enjoyed by the Pacer Team is the free Pacer Kit of new shoes, shorts, vests, socks and head visors provided by the official kit sponsor, Adidas. One week before Race Day, I broke in my kit by running in the Bintulu 21km Run 2016 because I wanted to make sure that the new Adidas Ultra Boost shoes performed well and all the running gear fitted me well in actual running conditions. Thankfully, the Adidas shoes and outfit performed as well as it looked.

Unforgettable Day

On race morning, the Pacer Team gathered at race venue for a group photo session and to collect our helium balloons.

Since my group was the last pacers, it took us several minutes to just cross the Start Line because we had to let all the runners run ahead of us. By the time, we turned into Jalan Sultan Ismail, there were no more runners in sight apart from the handful of late-starters rushing to catch-up with the tail-end. It was a surreal feeling because in the Start Pen, we were surrounded by 7,000 Full Marathoners but within 20 minutes after the flag-off, Jalan Ampang was deserted again except for four uniformed pacers with huge white balloons.

By the time, we entered AKLEH Highway, we caught up with the stragglers and blew our whistles as we urged them to the first cut-off point.

At the DUKE Highway, my pace was too fast, and I was separated from my other 3 teammates behind. When the runners saw my white balloon, they panicked and remarked, “Oh no, if we don’t keep up with you, we will miss the 7 hour race cut-off time!

I replied to them, “Don’t worry, the actual 7-hour pacers are still behind us.”

With a sigh of relief, these Runners kept running, and a few of them even decided to follow me.

At KTM Headquarters and 500 metres from the Finish Line, I persuaded a big bunch of runners to pick-up their pace in order to finish strong.

“Let’s finish together!” I shouted. Spurred on by our collective fighting spirit, we ran past many runners to cross the Finish Line at 6 hours 38 minutes.

Clearly, as a 7 hour pacer, I had failed in my duties. However, I will never forget the moments right after passing under the Finish Arch when several ecstatic runners came-up to me and said, “Thank you for being our pacer, and can we take a Selfie with you!”…..

“ Let’s finish together! ”