In this age of Ultrarunning, pacers play a large roll in motivating and assisting runners to finish the brutal 100 milerace. Is this really necessary? In France, pacers are not allowed, and the RD’s evendiscouragehaving a crew. The US is the opposite, why is that? Are the Europeans more purists? Are we weak in saying we need a pacer?, or have we just grown up knowing they are always allowed, so we take advantage of it? Someon the other side of the pond cut a few corners, maybe here in the US our form of cutting cornersis having a pacer/mule. For the lead runners, pacers should not be allowed if one is running for the win. There is a distinct advantage to having a friend by your side when the going gets rough…even if the “pacer” is not carrying anything. A prime example would be during nighttime, the extra person [...]