Pacers will be on hand at the Door County Half Marathon to help guide runners to a successful finish. Meet our pacers at the Pace Team tent at the expo Friday and at the runner’s concourse before the race. You’ll find them at the starting line holding signs with their goal finish times on them.
The team is organized by Krista Eliot, a veteran of 40 marathons and experienced member of both New Balance and Nike pace teams.
1:45 (8:01 min/mile) – Michael Guth and Michael Terry
1:50 (8:23 min/mile) – Adam Brouch and David Schroeder
1:55 (8:46 min/mile) – Aaron Hizon and Jake Danen
2:00 (9:09 min/mile) – Marty Thomas and Krista Eliot
2:05 (9:32 min/mile) – Kathy Farina, Chad Otis and Aaron Schneider
2:10 (9:55 min/mile) – Jean Lemke and Craig Congdon
2:15 (10:18 min/mile)- Fred Kramer and Paula Meyer
2:20 (10:41 min/mile) – Yomarie Castellano and Katie Houle
2:25 (11:04 min/mile) – Amy Toporski and Christine Bell
Tips For Using Pace Teams and Running Your Best Race
By Krista Eliot, Pace Team Coordinator
The DCHM Pace Team’s goal is to help runners get to the finish line within 1 minute of the set goal finish time (for example, the 2:10 pace team will aim to finish somewhere between 2:09:00-2:10:59).
We’re here to help you, to provide encouragement, support and identifiable pace team members for runners to watch for and follow in order to keep that finish goal in sight.
Let’s be honest, the DCHM can be tough. There are hills, both up and down. So, it will help to be honest with yourself about whether or not you’ve done any hill training in prep for the DCHM. If the answer is “no”, it’s ok to take the hills as best you can, try not to slow your pace down, but if you have to walk, then do what you need to do. The pace team will try to maintain their prescribed mile pace up the hills. There likely will be a bit of a slower pace, especially up the biggest hill between miles 4 and 5, but remember that there are some nice downhills on which to recover and make up some lost ground if you can.
If runners who are trying to follow the pacers can at least keep the pace team in sight along the course, that’s a good thing. Runners should remember that you’ll go through moments (and miles) where you feel great, and some where you feel less than fantastic (or even downright struggle). That’s a normal thing in distance running. If runners attempting to follow a pace team can keep a positive attitude and keep the team in sight as best you can if you can’t maintain their pace, you’re in great shape to reach your goal.
It’s always a good thing on race day to have a Plan A (best case scenario), Plan B (secondary goal) and Plan C (for the days when everything seems to go wrong – it sometimes happen – stay healthy and listen to your body if it’s giving you warning signs).
The most efficient way to run a distance race is to start with a patient and conservative pace, get yourself warmed up but running close to goal minute-per-mile pace in those first few miles, and then maintain an even pace throughout the long run.
Try not to go out too fast. Sometimes this is easier said than done with race day adrenaline and excitement, but the pace team will aim to help by keeping runners close to goal mile pace.
The first few miles are nice and flat so it’s a good course to ease into the run. Our pace team will do their best to try to hit those approximate mile splits but we’ve found that those miles between 4 and 10 can sometimes vary a bit, that’s normal. Pacing is not always exact here, but using the downhills to regain seconds lost and gain a little speed (and using those points on the course where our wonderful spectators energize you with cheers) also helps!
Our Pace Team members will stop or slow down through the water aid stations and try to keep their pace sticks visible for runners trying to stick with them. Some of the faster pace teams will likely take less time at the aid stations and the slower teams will allow for more time at these stops.
Ultimately, whatever your running pace is, our pace team will be out there to help, guide, encourage, challenge and cheer ALL runners and we hope everyone runs the best race they can run on May 6th . Good Luck!
