The Pacers
Image @adrianvarzaru
No running club is complete without its pacers, who memorise routes, suss out toilet and water stops, and keep morale up so runners can focus solely on the rhythm of putting one foot in front of the other. But keeping time for others is not easy, and becoming a pacer is something that typically happens after years of honing a dedicated running habit. Two pacers with Tracksmith, a running apparel brand, fill us in.
KIMIKO NINOMIYA: Digital Marketer, Hot Boys Athletics run club founder and Tracksmith pacer, 5:00–5:20km
Kimiko Ninomiya has been running track and field since she was little — but it wasn’t until she moved to New York in 2009 that she got into endurance running. That year, she ran her first half marathon
“With pacing, you run with people week on week and see them achieve their goals”
in Brooklyn, an annual tradition she kept up until moving to London in 2020. “I moved here during Covid,” she says. “Running around London was a great way to get to know the city when there was no one else out and nothing else to do.” Her favourite running spot is Victoria Park, a few minutes from home and where endless loops can be mapped out.
Having left her regular running crew in New York, Ninomiya founded her own performance-focused group in London, Hot Boys Athletics. It holds track training sessions on Wednesdays. “One of the most rewarding things is seeing people achieve their goals,” she says. “You have that with pacing as well — you run with people week on week and see them achieve their goals.”
“Normally I’d run every day,” says Ninomiya. Most are easy-paced, between 30 to 90 minutes, along with Wednesday’s track workout, a Friday morning tempo run, and longer distances on Sundays with Tracksmith.
NEHAL PATEL: Freight forwarder and Tracksmith pacer, 5:30–5:55KM
In 2018, a friend dragged Nehal Patel to his local Parkrun in Dagenham. He wasn’t expecting to like it — but under 30 minutes later, he’d crossed the finish line. “I was like ‘Mate, I’m not doing this, it’s nine in the morning’,” he says. “But I instantly got hooked and went to Parkrun constantly. That first year, you’re getting PBs every week and really enjoying it.”
“I was like “Mate, I’m not doing this, it’s nine in the morning”. But I instantly got hooked”
Although he was an experienced runner, and had completed a full marathon, it wasn’t until 2021 that Patel put himself forward as a pacer. “You don’t always back yourself when you’re starting out,” he reflects. “It took me a while before I realised I could pace 5:50 quite well — my heart rate is low, I can talk to people and I’m not out of breath.”
Today, Patel runs six days per week, all “at completely different paces”. He does a 100% effort track run once a week, and one tempo run at 60–70% of maximum effort. The rest are easy runs, along with two strength workouts per week. This is a plan set out by his coach, who Patel has been working with since running his first marathon in 2020. “Some people are happy running and making their own plans, and it works for them,” he says. “But I need somebody who controls that aspect of my life.”
PACE LIKE A PRO
Give us one piece of running advice...
NINOMIYA:
Building a consistent running practice is about turning it into a habit: same time, same day, same group. “I see my friends at 6:30 in the morning, which is not a normal socialising time — but it fits [running] in and makes it fun.”
PATEL:
A key piece of advice for runners new to
longer distances is to “never run at your race pace for every single run. There’s a few runners I know who run flat out every single run they do — but you’ll get injured quicker.”