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A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

nytimes.com

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Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#21

Post by tekla »

diceduckmonk wrote: post #16
tekla wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Pacer" is a common word used to describe many activities that are time limited. It takes the common noun "pace" and a average English speaker )or really even a non native speaker) could figure out "pacer" means "to keep pace".

For someone who does not run marathons, I’d ask why a human would be necessary? People could use smartwatches, or there could be waypoint signs. This is a domain specific thing. Without Googling, did you know what a patternmaker is?

You dont need to run marathons to have a pacer.

You have pacers in most "official" races. Plenty of pacers in 5K's, 10K's, 15Ks, and Halfs. People want to focus on running their time at a constant pace and not having to speed up and slow down every mile.

I assume a patternmaker is someone who focuses on making patterns, probably novel, with sewing and crocheting. I'll google it and edit this post once I confirm it.

Edit: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patternmaker

Yep, seems close enough. Amazing what one can do with basic logic.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#22

Post by northwest65 »

diceduckmonk wrote: post #16
tekla wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Pacer" is a common word used to describe many activities that are time limited. It takes the common noun "pace" and a average English speaker )or really even a non native speaker) could figure out "pacer" means "to keep pace".

For someone who does not run marathons, I’d ask why a human would be necessary? People could use smartwatches, or there could be waypoint signs. This is a domain specific thing. Without Googling, did you know what a patternmaker is?

I'm sure I saw on TV that they use what is basically a giant LED strip on the inside of the course, which as I understood was a 'pacer light'. Seems to strip the strategy out and reduce it to a purely physical contest, which doesn't seem an improvement.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#23

Post by diceduckmonk »

hanniabu wrote: post #19
diceduckmonk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For someone who does not run marathons, I’d ask why a human would be necessary? People could use smartwatches, or there could be waypoint signs. This is a domain specific thing. Without Googling, did you know what a patternmaker is?

Showing a timer or splits is not pacing

If the watch also measured the distance you’ve travel, is pace not just distance over time? Speaking of wearable, pacemakers serve a different purpose, so the term is ambiguous

I’m sure you run then, because again I have no idea what you mean by “splits”

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#24

Post by beached_whale »

hanniabu wrote: post #18
metadat wrote: post #7

It does seem kind of cheap to rely on a pacer, I can see how purists lament it as "not real racing". It eliminates an entire dimension from the competition: managing oneself and being aware / humble enough to not push unsustainably hard at the start only to run out of juice later on. Using a pacer essentially reduces the race to an artless treadmill grind. As an observer, the paced portion of the race is stupidly bor…

It would be interesting to have an Olympics where every race each runner runs the race alone

Then it would be pretty boring. But watch a few of the women's 5000m from a few years ago(haven't watching in a couple). You would see the leader all alone. It was exciting, but also lacked that excitement of seeing someone kick for the win.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#25

Post by tekla »

metadat wrote: post #20
hdctambien wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was Steve Prefontaine's opinion, too. And it got him 4th in the Olympics. Pacer or not, you still have to run the run and that's not nothing.

It says in the article pacers are not permitted in the Olympics.

The Olympics doesn't allow professionals anyway, so the comparison becomes weird.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#26

Post by diceduckmonk »

tekla wrote: post #21
diceduckmonk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For someone who does not run marathons, I’d ask why a human would be necessary? People could use smartwatches, or there could be waypoint signs. This is a domain specific thing. Without Googling, did you know what a patternmaker is?

You dont need to run marathons to have a pacer. You have pacers in most "official" races. Plenty of pacers in 5K's, 10K's, 15Ks, and Halfs. People want to focus on running their time at a constant pace and not having to speed up and slow down every mile. I assume a patternmaker is someone who focuses on making patterns, probably novel, with sewing and crocheting. I'll google it and edit this post once I confirm it. E…

> You have pacers in most "official" races. Plenty of pacers in 5K's, 10K's, 15Ks, and Halfs.

So you confirm that this term is obvious for people who are familiar with races in general. I’m not and don’t even know what units those K’s are in. I’m going to presume kilometers, but who knows.

> I assume a patternmaker is someone who focuses on making patterns, probably novel, with sewing and crocheting

> Yep, seems close enough. Amazing what one can do with basic logic

The only thing they have in common is textiles. This is as close as saying people who know how to edit HTML/CSS are coders or scriptmonkeys are hackers.

No shit I know the word pacer means someone who keeps pace. What that means in context and culture is a different thing.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#27

Post by SamBam »

diceduckmonk wrote: post #3

The article uses the term pacer and rabbit but never really explained what function exactly this type of runner performed for the race organizers. They only alluded to this when mentioning other runners depending on the pacer. A little confused who the intended reader for this article is. I had to follow up with a Wikipedia search where just the usage of the term “pacemaker” or “pacesetter” made things more clear.

What confused me initially was who was paying him. I went into the article assuming he was pacing for a specific runner or team -- a bit like the teammate cyclist who is tasked with being in front so other cyclists can draft behind him the the Tour de France. So even though the article did mention a race organizer approaching him, I missed that.

Do the race organizers request a specific pace knowing what they know about the competitors? Do they ask for input from the various coaches before the meet? Or does he just always run the exact same pace and other racers pace themselves faster or slower just in comparison to him?

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#28

Post by freddie_mercury »

tekla wrote: post #25
metadat wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It says in the article pacers are not permitted in the Olympics.

The Olympics doesn't allow professionals anyway, so the comparison becomes weird.

The Olympics has allowed professional athletes since 1986.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#29

Post by NoPicklez »

diceduckmonk wrote: post #16
tekla wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Pacer" is a common word used to describe many activities that are time limited. It takes the common noun "pace" and a average English speaker )or really even a non native speaker) could figure out "pacer" means "to keep pace".

For someone who does not run marathons, I’d ask why a human would be necessary? People could use smartwatches, or there could be waypoint signs. This is a domain specific thing. Without Googling, did you know what a patternmaker is?

It's not necessary, but if there is one you will find that it's much easier mentally to run at a pace when someone else is doing the pacing next to you.

Especially if you're running at the top end of your pace.

Re: A runner who leads every pack and then vanishes

#30

Post by tekla »

diceduckmonk wrote: post #26
tekla wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You dont need to run marathons to have a pacer. You have pacers in most "official" races. Plenty of pacers in 5K's, 10K's, 15Ks, and Halfs. People want to focus on running their time at a constant pace and not having to speed up and slow down every mile. I assume a patternmaker is someone who focuses on making patterns, probably novel, with sewing and crocheting. I'll google it and edit this post once I confirm it. E…

> You have pacers in most "official" races. Plenty of pacers in 5K's, 10K's, 15Ks, and Halfs. So you confirm that this term is obvious for people who are familiar with races in general. I’m not and don’t even know what units those K’s are in. I’m going to presume kilometers, but who knows. > I assume a patternmaker is someone who focuses on making patterns, probably novel, with sewing and crocheting > Yep, seems clos…

> This is as close as saying people who know how to edit HTML/CSS are coders or scriptmonkeys are hackers.

You are on a social media platform where many people would gladly say that these claims are true.

Anyway I looked it up on wikipedia and my guess still holds up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patternmaker_(clothing)

The only thing I didn't bring up was the software that modern patternmakers might be using, but the core idea is still correct.

>> A patternmaker is a skilled worker who produces patterns on paper or fabric for use in the clothing industry.

> No shit I know the word pacer means someone who keeps pace.

Good, so you recognized that there is very little thought required to match "racing" and "pacers"

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