A pacemaker (sometimes colloquially called a rabbit) is a runner who leads a middle- or long distance running event for the first section to ensure a fast time and avoid excessive tactical racing. Middle distance track events are track races longer than sprints up to (and arguably including 3000 Metres. Long-distance track event races require runners to balance their energy Pacemakers are frequently employed by race organisers for world record attempts with specific instructions for lap times. Some athletes have become essentially professional pacemakers. A competitor who chooses the tactic of leading is called a front-runner rather than a pacemaker.
Purists argue that employing pacemakers detracts from the competitive nature of racing and yet it does ensure that the fastest over the whole distance rather than merely the fastest finisher wins the race. Original rules frowned on a competitor who was not actively trying to win and pacemakers were required to finish a race for any record to count. This rule has now been dropped. A lapped competitor may not act as a pacemaker.
The 1500 m at the Bislett Games in 1981 became part of track folklore when star athletes including Steve Ovett chose not to follow pacemaker Tom Byers, but race among themselves. The Bislett Games is an annual track and field event at the Bislett stadion in Oslo, Norway that takes place as the first meeting of the History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological Stephen ("Steve" Michael James Ovett OBE (born October 9, 1955) is a former Thomas Joseph Byers Jr (born 1955 was a professional distance runner and current businessman Ovett's scintillating last lap was not quite enough to catch Byers who held on to win by a few metres. [1]
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