Sonia O’Sullivan: When pacing gets in the way of proper racing

The plan was to sit down on a cool Sunday evening and enjoy watching every mile of the London Marathon. That being a cool evening Melbourne time, not a warm morning London time. Such are the joys of being on the far side of the world.

I was racing around to get home in time for the start, only I didn’t really need to rush at all, because it turned out there wasn’t a whole lot to watch. When running becomes less about the racing and more about the pacing it becomes a different sort of spectacle, and not nearly as interesting or exciting.

The main contenders in London – the men and the women – spent much of the early stages hidden behind the black and white striped pacing team. This was not a real race at all, not all that far removed from the Nike science experiment played out in Monza just more than a year ago.

Boston was a true marathon battle, a test of the mind and body

London should be one of the greatest marathon races of the year. It is part of the World Marathon Majors series, made up of six marathons around the world – the others being New York, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo and Berlin.

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These races attract the best marathon runners in the world, along with the mass participation runners, many of which only qualify for entry in a lottery, such is the interest in running. And similar to the tennis grand slam and golf major tournaments, all locked in on similar dates each year.

Exciting battles

Which is the best? Which is the fastest? I watched the Tokyo Marathon in February, which was a great race, especially in the closing stages when Japanese runner Yuta Shitara broke the Japanese record which had stood for 16 years. Finishing in second place after fighting back strongly in the latter stages of the marathon, Shitara was rewarded for his efforts with a bonus of just under $1 million for breaking the Japanese record.

After Tokyo, it was on to Boston where both the men’s and women’s races turned into very exciting battles. The weather played a major part in Boston, with athletes wearing an array of differing running gear to try to protect themselves from the freezing temperatures, constant rain and very strong headwinds. At times it looked more like a training run than a major marathon.

Boston was a true marathon battle, a test of the mind and body, as it turned out both races delivered surprise winners, a prolific marathoner Yuki Kawauchi first across the line. Just one week earlier in his final tune-up race Yuki won a half marathon in Japan, dressed in a panda suit taking just over 70 minutes. The women’s race was won by Desiree Linden, the first US women’s winner in 33 years of the oldest marathon in the world.

The winning times were well outside the top 300 times already run this year, yet on this occasion the times didn’t really matter. It was about racing, not pacing, and ultimately about winning.

A week later and London was also affected by the weather, a bit warmer than ideal conditions, but then London put on a larger than usual team of pacemakers. They set off down the road, three in a row, sheltering the leading runners at a pace well under world record pace for both the men and women.

Behind them, Mo Farah just about stood out with his luminous yellow aerodynamic arm sleeves. When you sign up to London as an elite runner you know the pace is going to be on, and you have to decide early to go with it or hang back. The eventual winner of the women’s race, Vivian Cheruiyot, wisely chose the latter.

In Monza, Eliud Kipchoge was shielded by a team of pacers, he narrowly missed breaking the two-hour barrier, just 25 seconds shy. This record didn’t stand as it was a perfectly set up time trial, yet not a whole lot different to London.

Testing the limits

In the end London became another exhibition, testing the limits of human marathon running, rather than proper racing, even if there were some great performances: Cheruiyot eventually winning in 2:18:31; Kipchoge completing a hat-trick of wins at London, running 2:04:16 – a full minute outside his course record; and Farah in third place running 2:06:21, but this all seemed just a consolation prize even if he broke the 33-year-old British record.

Great performances, yes, but not a truly great race, hindered instead by the pacemakers that were put in place to manufacture a “race” that was never going to happen on a warm day in London.

Far removed from all of that is the increasingly popular parkrun series. I’ve been running these 5km runs for years now, and I’ll be back home on Saturday at Cabinteely Park in south Dublin, ready to run my 100th. The parkrun is about so many different things; essentially one is time, because no matter what level anyone runs at, time has a meaning. It can make you feel better or worse about your run.

There was a time where hilly park runs were not the favourites, even though they can be the more challenging and interesting. And of course they are about racing as well, even if only among family and friends, or even yourself.

From what I’ve heard Cabinteely has a few lumps and bumps so chasing times is out the window. Instead, it’s just running up the hills and flowing down, picking up the legs and covering the 5km distance in a new park setting.

The best thing about parkrun is the places you get to discover and explore and the people you get to meet along the way. Here’s to my 100th and the next 100th will be all about exploring even more running parks near and far.

(The parkrun, in association with VHI Healthcare, takes place this Saturday at 9.30am in Cabinteely Park, Old Bray Road, Cabinteely, Dublin 18. Entry is free: register at www.parkrun.ie)