Running is fun. Running with a group of people is more fun. Running with a group of people as their Pace Bunny is the most fun.
For those of you who have been a pace bunny, I'm sure you'll completely agree. For those of you who haven't been a pace bunny, take my word for it- you really should do it sometime. What could be better? You still get the excitement of taking part in the race, but you're not just another runner in the crowd, you're a celebrity! When you're walking around before the race with your bunny ears on you can hear people saying "oh... there's one of the pace bunnies....." or coming up to you to ask for advice, or find out about what other pace bunnies will be out there. You'll have people coming up and asking to get your picture taken with them, but the real fun starts once the race in on.
For those of you who have been a pace bunny, I'm sure you'll completely agree. For those of you who haven't been a pace bunny, take my word for it- you really should do it sometime. What could be better? You still get the excitement of taking part in the race, but you're not just another runner in the crowd, you're a celebrity! When you're walking around before the race with your bunny ears on you can hear people saying "oh... there's one of the pace bunnies....." or coming up to you to ask for advice, or find out about what other pace bunnies will be out there. You'll have people coming up and asking to get your picture taken with them, but the real fun starts once the race in on.
Once the race gets going, if it's a smaller event like the PEC marathon, there's usually a loose group who kind of drift in and out with you, and usually a few who try to stick with you all the way. It's great to talk to the people in your group to find out where they're from, what their goals are, what other races they've done and so on. As the race goes on, the easy chatting tends to die off a bit, and it switches to me giving encouragement to the runners who have stuck with me, and encouraging the runners who's pace is dropping and I'm starting to pass to try to keep up and finish with me.
As you come down the home stretch, that's where you can really help people- when I get within a km of the finish line I always look for runners who seem to be struggling and encourage them to keep pushing. It's amazing how many times I've said to someone "if you run in with me you'll be under X time" and they find the strength to dig deep and keep pushing. Other times down the homestretch you'll find the people who are just happily cruising in and enjoying the experience.
As you come down the home stretch, that's where you can really help people- when I get within a km of the finish line I always look for runners who seem to be struggling and encourage them to keep pushing. It's amazing how many times I've said to someone "if you run in with me you'll be under X time" and they find the strength to dig deep and keep pushing. Other times down the homestretch you'll find the people who are just happily cruising in and enjoying the experience.
Every time you cross the finish line as a pace bunny, you'll have people coming up after the race and giving hugs, or shaking your hand, and telling you that they couldn't have done it without you. One of my favourite pace bunny moments was crossing the line with a girl who was about 18 or 19, and she grabbed her parents and brought them over to meet her bunny and get her picture taken with me. As great as it is to run hard and have a PB, that sort of thing is better than a personal achievement. There's nothing like being able to help someone else accomplish their goal.
After the race on Sunday I was driving home, and I realized that my cheek muscles were sore, and then realized that was because I'd been smiling so much for the past few hours. That doesn't happen very often when running a race on your own!