Pace Official
Your job is critically important as we are required by the town to ensure that all runners are off the roads who cannot complete a 14-minute mile.
There are 2 hard cuts on the course where runners will be advised to board a school bus and return to the start. There is also one soft cut off where runners will be advised to move to the sidewalk to the finish.
One team should cover hard cut off 1 and soft cut off 3, one team should cover hard cut off 2.
Hard Cut #1 is at mile 6 which is on Washington Road.
Specifically, mile 6 is 3 feet north of the northern concrete pillar by the road just north of #70 Washington Road “Center for Jewish Life” on the right and 36 feet north of lamp post 85XX on the right.
You will see a mile sign hanging on a 10-foot pole. Runners must get past this point by 8:26 to continue in the run. Please be in place by 7:20 AM as to not get in the way of the front runners but you can stay in your car until 8:15 – although we’d love you to get out sooner and cheer. The lead runners will be coming by at 7:25. A bus will meet you here for any runners who stop to safely return to the start.
Hard Cut #2 is at mile 9 on Snowden near the entrance of Smoyer Park.
Mile 9 is on Snowden before Van Dyke. It is 90 feet before utility pole 62189PT on the left and house number 595 on the right. 595 Snowden Lane
You will see a mile sign hanging on a 10-foot pole. Please be in place by 7:30 AM as to not get in the way of the front runners but you can stay in your car until 8:55 – although we’d love you to get out sooner and cheer. The lead runners will be coming by at 7:40. Runners must pass this point by 9:08 to continue in the run. A bus will meet you here for any runners who stop to safely return to the start.
Soft Cut #3 is at mile 10.8 which is 516 Mount Lucas Road.
Please be in place by 9:00 AM but you can stay in your car until 9:15 – although we’d love you to get out sooner and cheer. The lead runners will be coming by at 7:50. At 9:25 please begin directing runners to the sidewalk for a qualified finish. There is no bus here.
WHAT TO SAY / DO @ Both Hard Cut Offs #1 & #2
You are now behind the 14-minute mile pace and you’ve been disqualified. The roads are now open to traffic. For your own safety we ask that you get on the bus. We can’t make you but we would appreciate your cooperation. There is water in the bus. If you choose to continue, you are on your own. The roads are open to traffic and there is no police, no emergency services and no course marshals to direct you.
Should they load the bus please tell them a finishers medal will not be available for you today but we will get one to you post-race. Please do not cross the finish line upon returning to Victory Village as it will mess up timing for those who completed the race.
Text the bib numbers of those who boarded the bus to Courtney @ 908-872-0217 when you are done.
Please note that several of the eliminated runners refuse to make eye contact with our pace officials and ignore them. In fact, in some years no one boarded the bus at all but we have to do this as part of our commitment to the town and commitment to runner safety. While all cut offs are important, allowing people to continue past hard cut #2 was extremely dangerous as we have significant church traffic in an area with blind curves. Please do the best you can to let them know that it is not safe to continue.
WHAT TO SAY / DO @ Soft Cut Off #3
Direct runners with gesture, posture and words.
Roads are opening. Stay on the sidewalk all the way to the finish. Listen to the instruction of the race officials. Stay on the sidewalk! You are almost there.
OTHER THOUGHTS…
Please familiarize yourself with the course
All participants have been warned of these hard cutoffs and will be reminded again at the race so you should not be surprising anyone.
Please arrive early to your locations as the front of the pack runners (~ 5 min pace) will be arriving at these locations long before your hard cut off times. There will also be traffic and road closures. Be sure to park in an area that is not in the way of the race participants – side street not on the race course, etc.
Upon arrival, please send me a text @ 908-872-0217 and let me know you are in place so I know that it is taken care of. As you can imagine, I will have several texts coming in so be sure to identify yourself and your role in the event. Example: “NAME – Hard Cut 1”
There will be 2 buses on the course. One will be a sweep bus following the race, the other will be meeting you at your hard cut #1 and hard cut #2 to pick up your lagging runners.
If there is an emergency, please try to call 609-921-2100 which is the Princeton Police Department. 911 is okay too, the other is just faster as they have emergency response people all over the course. The sweep bus will have a PARAMEDIC on it.
Please confirm before race day that you fully understand this role.
The last runner will be followed by a yellow bus and police car.
