[TallGuy]

Having returned to running after 10 or so years I thought I would ask peoples views on the above topic.

The reason being is that after watching the London marathon last year I was shocked that two male pacemakers could pace the winner for the majority of the second half of the race and for it to be a valid result. Having spoken to other runners they said this is commonplace nowadays.

Having watched a few other pro road races on t.v it seems to be that running has become very pacemaking & time orientated and the tactical side seems to have fallen by the way.

Coming from a cycling background where tactics are also diminishing with the advent of manager - rider radios & various other agendas I wondered what others thought about this topic.

 

[Trinity]

I don't see the problem with it... I've used blokes as pacemakers in races before (although they didn't know it at the time )

What difference does it make if it's someone like me, or an elite lady such as Paula. We're pushing the limits, to see how fast the human body can go. Female elite times have come down a lot faster than male times in recent years, which is great, but men have been running for longer...there was a time when women weren't allowed to run...delicate petals that we are

 

[Nat]

I don't know a lot about it when it gets to that level, but at the end of the day the individual ran the race themselves with their own bodies. Whether they had someone running, cycling, driving next to them or had music on, they did it.

 

[Rob]

It's usually the other way round for me, although it does have it's benefits

 

[Revenged]

Coming from a cycling background where tactics are also diminishing with the advent of manager - rider radios & various other agendas

what about all the drugs athletes use to enhance their performance...

- EPO (eythropoietin)
- blood transfusions
- anabolic steriods
- growth hormones

!!!

 

[Dave]

It's usually the other way round for me, although it does have it's benefits

It certainly does Rob......

Have you ever run a race slower becouse of the benefits.??................:d

 

[JBBury]

This might sound like a stupid question, but I'm not an elite athlete so really don't know. How does pace making improve performance? I mean, I don't see how trailing another runner makes you run faster. I mean it's not like the slipstream would be significant here. Could someone explain? Sorry, if this is a completely dumb question, but I just can't see how it could have that much of an effect.

 

[TallGuy]

I agree with your comments wholeheartedly regarding performance enhancers Revenged and pro cycling is definately facing its demons in that department right now. I generally stick to bran flakes and PSP22 as my performance enhancers of choice!

There is probably some debate about the benefits of drafting which is distinct from pacemaking. Drafting allows the follower to make a significant energy saving as stated here:

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/aerodynamics/q0092.shtml

What I am getting at is a race scenario at pro level where one female racer has two specificly selected male pacemakers which she can "draft" from and another racer of equal ability doesnt.

The energy saving made by the racer with two stronger male pacemakers will enable her to re-invest that saved energy saving into keeping a pace which she would not otherwise be able to do without the pacemakers.

 

[fandango]

There are two questions here, one should there be pacemakers, two should females have male pacemakers.

I'm in two minds about pacemakers. Pacemakers have their place in forcing the pace and making a faster run. But pacemakers tend to work for one runner over the others. So it's a good thing for a race in which one of the competitors is going for a world record (Gebrselassie/Radcliffe), not so good if it's a proper race.

Regarding male pacemakers for female runners, absolutely nothing wrong with them. A pacemaker is a pacemaker, does it matter the sex of the runner?

And for me drafting is simply a form of laziness. It's fine for something like the Tour de France where everyone in the peloton takes their turn at the front, but for something like triathlons where they bunch up and no one wants to take the lead, it leads to a dull race.

 

[Steve]

Well I did this on Sunday...but was more of a support runner than a proper pacemaker as I was running near the back of the race.

I see no problem with it generally.