Galloway Pace Groups @ RunDisney Races: The Official Discussion Thread

Keels

The Official Keels of RunDisney
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
So, I realize this is probably a more "niche" thread on a VERY niche board ... but after talking with my local race director that ran Dopey this year, and coupled with my experiences, I'd like to have an open discussion about the Galloway Pace Groups.

They were the Official Pace Groups for the 2017 Marathon Weekend.

I did not run with a Galloway Pace Group, but experienced many of them through my marathon run.

Did anyone run with a Galloway Pace Group?
 
I didn't run with any of them but kept pace with the 5:45 pace group for a bit before the Magic Kingdom. I passed them up and never saw them again after that. The 5:45 group probably had 20-30 runners all together with one pacer at the front and another at the back with the flag. The pacer would yell out the times.
 
I didn't run with any of them but kept pace with the 5:45 pace group for a bit before the Magic Kingdom. I passed them up and never saw them again after that. The 5:45 group probably had 20-30 runners all together with one pacer at the front and another at the back with the flag. The pacer would yell out the times.

Where were they running on the course? Middle? Side?
 


I passed the 5:00 pacer a few times between Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. It was a huge group of people! So many people that I had to pass them on the grass at least twice since they caught up with me due to character stops. The group took up most of the road as we ran down Bear Island. I didn't mind having to get on the grass to pass them though.
 
Where were they running on the course? Middle? Side?

The few I saw seemed to have a complete disregard for the other runners around them. The worst was the group that passed me on the bath from HS to Epcot. They decided to take up the entirety of an already narrow path and then over took the whole water stop along there making it difficult for others to get water. I was passed by another group earlier in another narrow section, struggling to remember where, but they took up to bulk of the path there too. I was not thrilled with them. I'm sure some of the runners may not have known proper race etiquette, but a reminder from the pace leaders would've been nice. The pace leaders heading towards the boardwalk just started their walk intervals in the middle of the path instead of the sides.
 
The few I saw seemed to have a complete disregard for the other runners around them.
That's how the Clif pace group was that passed me in the 2016 marathon at the very crowded area after the water bridge. That Clif pacer yelled "walkers in the middle, runners on the outside our walk starts in 20 sec". I was walking on the outside since I was sick and no way I was moving or would have been trampled. Hopefully the new Galloway Pacers stuck to the traditional walkers on the outside, but doesn't sound like it, but probably depends on the actually runner & how big of a group they have.

At Wine & Dine I never saw a Galloway pacer (first time for them), but my older brother was confused by the Galloway pacer he saw because he didn't realize they were doing run/walk/run and just thought the pacer had gotten too far ahead and went to walk to catch back to his desired pace, that would have been like a 1:40 pacer maybe.

Does anyone know all the pace group ranges? It does seem on facebook groups people really liked the Galloway pacers since they go to more paces than the old Cliff ones.
 
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I remember the first Pace group that I encountered, I wasn't quite sure what was going on. I'm running and then all of a sudden a very large group in the middle of the path (somewhat narrow at the time I encountered them) started walking and I kind of had to dodge to the side to not run into anyone. We played leap frog for a while until I stopped for a real bathroom in WWOS. I think the run/walk plan is very interesting and I actually want to try it one of these days to see if helps me speed up. But while running this marathon, it made it a bit congested when I wanted to run and they were walking.
 
Are there different paces you can join?

Yes. Note that you'll need to be in the same corral as your desired pace, or you'll be waiting for them or rushing to catch up.


I didn't realize that there had been the change in pace groups, and for me it's too much mental pressure, so I have never joined them. But I encountered the 3 hour group at Star Wars and was around them for at least a mile. They were a big group, and they made it very difficult to maneuver around.

I'm a run/walk person myself, so I have no issues with how they are doing the run, but I was trying my darnedest to follow good etiquette (sometimes it's not possible based on the people around you and what has been going on, or your exhaustion level), and poor etiquette just bugs me on the course. It was the last few miles, so we were all tired, but they were just a big clump.


And now that I know it was a Galloway group, I think that people should probably write to him about their issues with the groups. I chatted with them both before and after the 10K (had to go back to the expo at around 2pm Saturday of Star Wars) and we were chatting about some of the things I experienced during the 10K. I was in E corral and I wanted to invite him to run in a further back corral so he could see what it's like. He said that he has run further back before, but seemed shocked because "people in those corrals are most of the people we work with" (that's a paraphrase, not a quote).

So I bet he would be very interested in knowing how others (especially other run/walkers) are perceiving and experiencing those groups.
 
And now that I know it was a Galloway group, I think that people should probably write to him about their issues with the groups. I chatted with them both before and after the 10K (had to go back to the expo at around 2pm Saturday of Star Wars) and we were chatting about some of the things I experienced during the 10K. I was in E corral and I wanted to invite him to run in a further back corral so he could see what it's like. He said that he has run further back before, but seemed shocked because "people in those corrals are most of the people we work with" (that's a paraphrase, not a quote).

So I bet he would be very interested in knowing how others (especially other run/walkers) are perceiving and experiencing those groups.

It's interesting he didn't have a huge pace group with him during the marathon this year. When we passed him as we were heading into the ToT FastPass line, there were only a handful of people running with him. I thought more people would want to hang out with one of the friendliest and most experienced runners there is. Bart Yasso didn't have many people with him either, and he looked like he could have used a few more. He was suffering quite a bit from what appeared to be leg cramps. I wonder if this is because they both look to have started in A.
 
Yes. Note that you'll need to be in the same corral as your desired pace, or you'll be waiting for them or rushing to catch up.

Is there a list of different pace groups and also what corrals they will be in?

Thanks,
 
Is there a list of different pace groups and also what corrals they will be in?

Thanks,

At WDW weekend, there was a list that stated which pace group was in each corral, along with their interval strategy. It was at the Galloway booth. I noticed that some pace groups were in the middle of the road, but I think it was due to the sheer size of the group. To my recollection, some of the Clif Pacers also ran in the middle. I've only run with the Clif pacers once, but I've seen them at multiple Disney and non-Disney races. The Galloway pacer was not in my corral, so I didn't have the opportunity to try it.
 
Was in corral D with the 4:00 and 4:15 groups. Had no intention of doing a run/walk but was pacing for 4:00 so the plan was to start behind them and catch up when the walked. Then let them pull away on their run.

However I passed them a couple miles in, was just too much to make sure my pace was consistent. Stayed in front of both groups yet finished in 4:02 and the 4:00 group never passed me. Family told me they were a couple minutes behind me at mile 25.

These seem like a downgrade to me. And that the one pacer was way off is not good.
 
I've never run with a pacer, but I can't see it working out because I'd need the pacer to be doing my exact run/walk intervals...let's say I find the 2:10 half pacer and they're doing :90/:30 intervals but I've trained with 3:00/1:00 or whatever. That's not something I'm going to be able to just flip a switch and change up on race day, ya know? At least...I don't think it would work out well. :confused3
 
I've never run with a pacer, but I can't see it working out because I'd need the pacer to be doing my exact run/walk intervals...let's say I find the 2:10 half pacer and they're doing :90/:30 intervals but I've trained with 3:00/1:00 or whatever. That's not something I'm going to be able to just flip a switch and change up on race day, ya know? At least...I don't think it would work out well. :confused3

No, it wouldn't. I think rD is in a tough place with pace teams. A large number (majority even?) of their runners use some form of run/walk intervals so it makes sense to set the pace groups up to accommodate them. Plus Galloway is one of their featured people. The problem, as you pointed out, is the wide range of intervals being used. Another factor is the limited effectiveness of run/walk intervals as the pace gets faster. People use them well at many speeds, but it's tougher to run/walk 1:45 or 2:00 than 2:30 or 2:45 because the run segment gets that much quicker.
 

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