Pacemaker (running)
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A pacemaker or pacesetter, sometimes informally called a rabbit, is a runner who leads a middle- or long-distance running event for the first section to ensure a high speed and to avoid excessive tactical racing. Pacemakers are frequently employed by race organisers for world record attempts with specific instructions for lap times. Some athletes have essentially become professional pacemakers. A competitor who chooses the tactic of leading in order to win is called a front-runner rather than a pacemaker.
Rabbits Abel Kirui, Elijah Keitani and Wilson Kigen pacing Haile Gebrselassie and Charles Kamathi at the Berlin Marathon 2008
Pacemaker (on the left) at London Marathon 2014
Four-minute mile
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A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1.6 km) in four minutes or less. It translates to a speed of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h). It is a standard of professional middle distance runners in several cultures.
Blue plaque recording the first sub-four-minute mile, run by Roger Bannister on 6 May 1954 at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track
Current mile world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj (left) at the start of a race
Statue outside the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver immortalizing the moment in "The Miracle Mile" when Bannister (left) passed Landy
Bannister and Landy racing in Vancouver, August 1954