A pacer runner for half marathons has revealed what it's like - and prints out laminated cards to make sure she is on time for each mile.
Lauren Orchard, 29, got the bug for marathons after she ran her first without any training while at Brighton university.
When she finally got to run the London marathon in April 2023 she spent four months consistently training and completed with a time of four hours and 16 minutes.
But afterwards she felt something was "missing" and decided to become a pacer - someone who runs in races to help set the pace for runners.
Now she has been a pacer for 10 half marathons and "loves it".
Lauren, a data analyst, from Walton-on-Thames, Surrey said: "When I'd done it [the London marathon] I felt like something was missing.
"I had dedicated so much time to running.
"I'd always been so thankful for the pacer and thought I can do that.
"I run as evenly as possible.
"People are relying on me to run an accurate run.
"It's such a fufilling thing to do."
Lauren first completed the Brighton marathon in 2014.
She said: "I struggled through in just five hours.
"As awful as it was I really enjoyed it."
Last year, Lauren took a British Heart Foundadion slot to run the London marathon.
She said: "I thought I'm doing it properly this time.
"I did a full training plan.
"My whole life revolved around training."
Lauren remembered how grateful she had been for the pacer during her races and reached out to companies to see if she could be one.
She ran her first race as a pacer for the St Albans half marathon in June 2023 and has now done 10 runs as a pacer.
Lauren said: "Everyone is so grateful and so thankful."
Lauren runs a pace between one hour and 50 minutes and two hours and 30 minutes - and prints out laminated cards to keep the right pace at each mile.
As well as keeping the pace she is there for encouragement to help people get over the line.
Although Lauren is not running in the London marathon this year - she is sharing her tips for those taking part.
She said: "No matter what happens remember to enjoy it.
"Make sure you plan your route to start really clearly.
"Plan your race day outfit and do a test run in it.
"Eat lots of carbs and protein."
Lauren would love to pace the London marathon.
She said: "I've found a true hobby and passion.
"My goal would be to pace a marathon."
Lauren Orchard, 29, got the bug for marathons after she ran her first without any training while at Brighton university.
When she finally got to run the London marathon in April 2023 she spent four months consistently training and completed with a time of four hours and 16 minutes.
But afterwards she felt something was "missing" and decided to become a pacer - someone who runs in races to help set the pace for runners.
Now she has been a pacer for 10 half marathons and "loves it".
Lauren, a data analyst, from Walton-on-Thames, Surrey said: "When I'd done it [the London marathon] I felt like something was missing.
"I had dedicated so much time to running.
"I'd always been so thankful for the pacer and thought I can do that.
"I run as evenly as possible.
"People are relying on me to run an accurate run.
"It's such a fufilling thing to do."
Lauren first completed the Brighton marathon in 2014.
She said: "I struggled through in just five hours.
"As awful as it was I really enjoyed it."
Last year, Lauren took a British Heart Foundadion slot to run the London marathon.
She said: "I thought I'm doing it properly this time.
"I did a full training plan.
"My whole life revolved around training."
Lauren remembered how grateful she had been for the pacer during her races and reached out to companies to see if she could be one.
She ran her first race as a pacer for the St Albans half marathon in June 2023 and has now done 10 runs as a pacer.
Lauren said: "Everyone is so grateful and so thankful."
Lauren runs a pace between one hour and 50 minutes and two hours and 30 minutes - and prints out laminated cards to keep the right pace at each mile.
As well as keeping the pace she is there for encouragement to help people get over the line.
Although Lauren is not running in the London marathon this year - she is sharing her tips for those taking part.
She said: "No matter what happens remember to enjoy it.
"Make sure you plan your route to start really clearly.
"Plan your race day outfit and do a test run in it.
"Eat lots of carbs and protein."
Lauren would love to pace the London marathon.
She said: "I've found a true hobby and passion.
"My goal would be to pace a marathon."
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FunTranscript
00:00 On Sunday, I paced sub two hours at the Fleet Half Marathon in Hampshire.
00:04 And this has been a half marathon that I've wanted to do for such a long time.
00:07 I'm quite local to the area and it's actually been running since the 80s.
00:10 I don't know what happened to the weather on Sunday, but I was absolutely freezing at the start of this race.
00:14 The run itself was really well organised. There was just under 2,000 runners and so much support all through the town.
00:19 It was nowhere near as flat as I was expecting, so definitely not the course for a PB.
00:22 There was also a guy spraying everyone with a pressure washer, which was not the one when it was so cold outside.
00:27 The weather did finally warm up and there was lots of nice sun.
00:30 The support on the finish line was also one of the best I've seen in a long time.
00:33 And I came over the line in just over one hour and 59 minutes.
00:36 So this is questions about being a half marathon pacer part two.
00:40 Do I pay my entry into the race? No, so I'll get a free entry into the race that I'm pacing.
00:45 But at the end, I'll still get the medal or the t-shirt, whatever they're handing out, the same as everyone who actually ran the race.
00:50 And then depending on the company I'm pacing for, I might also get a free entry into a future race of my choice.
00:55 What times do I pace? So I will pace anything between 1 hour 50 and 2 hours 30 for a half marathon.
01:01 And that's just because that's the pace I feel comfortable running a half marathon without feeling too out of breath.
01:06 It's really important that you've still got the energy to speak to and encourage all the other runners around you.
01:10 And finally, what's my favorite time to pace? So that's definitely sub two hours.
01:14 I feel like sub two hours is such a goal for so many runners and helping people achieve that is really nice.
01:19 It also makes me really happy too.
01:21 So this is a really great question. Who paces the pacer and how do I know how fast I need to run?
01:26 So a few weeks before the race, I'll find out exactly what time I'm pacing.
01:29 And for me, that's anything between 1 hour 50 and 2 hours 20.
01:33 And that's just because that's my comfortable pace. It means I can still talk to and encourage the people around me.
01:38 I'll then make myself a little card like this, which tells me exactly what time I need to be at when I get to each of the mile markers.
01:44 So here I'm pacing 2 hours 10. I want to come in just over 2 hours 9.
01:48 So I should be running at a rough split of 9 minutes 50 per mile.
01:52 So I will track the pace I'm running on my Garmin in kilometers.
01:55 And then when I get to each mile marker, I'll check in versus the time against that little card to make sure that I'm roughly on track.
02:00 And that's because my Garmin will never be 100% accurate.
02:03 And also when you run a race, you do tend to run slightly longer because the course is never completely perfect.
02:08 And that's how I do it. If I find that I'm slightly out, I'll just adjust it ever so slightly during the remainder of the run.