This was a World Record attempt. The athletes in this race were going to be running hard. They would be following the pace set, trusting it to be exactly what they needed in order to stay on course for a World Record. When I tell you I was feeling the pressure, I was in fact, feeling the pressure. Not to mention that as we were being led towards the stadium for the race, a friend of mine wished me luck and told me "remember, if your not running fast enough, these Ethiopians will just push you out of the way". OMG, like I wasn't nervous enough.
Once in the stadium I started to find some calmness. My head switched into competition mode and my focus began to settle on the job at hand. When the gun went off I got out hard to ensure my position at the front of the pack and to take control of the pace. I was about a half a second too fast on lap one, but with a little tweaking I was spot on for the next series of laps. At this point there were no sign of Ms. Burka clipping at my heels or throwing me aggressive elbows in a effort to get me out of her way. So I took that as a sign of encouragement and powered on with a sense of things going as planned. Once I reached the point where it was time to step aside, I did so as efficiently as possible and then took a place in the in-field so I could watch and cheer the rest of the athletes on towards the World Record.
Sadly, the result was not a World Record, but Burka did manage to set a new Stadium Record and the rest of the field followed with a string of SB's (season's best), PB's (personal best's) and NR (National Records). As a pace-maker seeing results like that, makes you feel like a proud mom. Like you somehow had a hand to play in the successful outcomes of these athletes. You set them up, you gave them the tools and when it was time to let them go, they exceeded your expectations. Ok, thats probably taking it a tad too far but you get the idea. Basically I was happy with my job and I was happy with the results achieved by all the athletes.
And here is a copy of the results achieved. And there is that awful "DNF" next to my name. Ahhhh, I swear I'll never be comfortable seeing that. Its my personal and egotistical belief that that, is completely unnecessary.
| 15:25 - ONE MILE - Women | OFFICIAL RESULTS |
 | |
| 1 | | Gelete BURKA | SR | | ||||||
| 2 | | Kakedan GEZAHEGN | PB | | ||||||
| 3 | | Maryam JAMAL | PB | | ||||||
| 4 | | Sylwia EJDYS | PB | | ||||||
| 5 | | Ingvill MAKESTAD | NR | | ||||||
| 6 | | Wioletta FRANKIEWICZ | PB | | ||||||
| 7 | | Helen CLITHEROE | PB | | ||||||
| 8 | | Hilary STELLINGWERFF | PB | | ||||||
| 9 | | Charlotte BEST | PB | | ||||||
| Karen SHINKINS | DNF | | |||||||
5 comments:
Hi Sis
That was a great run. Can take a lot of pride in helping so many athletes achieve so may records (national, stadium and PB's). I'd say they will be all queueing up for you to be their pace maker now.
Don't take the DNF badly, think of it as 'Does Not Fail'. Corny I know, but you were asked to set a pace for them to set records and mission accomplished
Hey Ed, haha you are corny, but it made me laugh.
Did you get my e-mail? I hope your ready to hand over your 1st born next week. I'll be over to pick him up as soon as I land. Mine!
Hi Sis
you know me, you want corny I am your man for the job.
Got the mail, cheers. We are ready to temporarily hand over Evan on a short term basis. He has been sick recently and teething heavily so full of pooy nappies that you are welcome to change.
We will take him back when the teething etc is over
Hey Karen... I thought you were retired?!
Hey Daragh, I'm tryin, but apparently the world of Track & Field seems empty without me ; )
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