RACE PACE COMPUTER – OVERSTOCK SALE

In 1977 Pete Riegel designed and had manufactured an order of race pace computers. They sold at a modest rate – enough to barely break even. At one point he quit selling them because the advertising was costing more than the profit. The units sold for $2.50 each. You can read about the development of the computer at the URL below:

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http://runscore.com/coursemeasurement/articles/TechTips.pdf

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Here is a picture of the computer. It’s basically a special-purpose circular slide rule. 

Say you want a shot at a three hour marathon. How fast should you be running a 10k?

A marathon, 26.219 miles, run in 180 minutes, requires a pace of 6.865 minutes per mile, or 6:52 minutes per mile.

Setting the “distance” arrow at “M” (for marathon) will show a performance factor of 712 opposite the 6:52 pace.

Now, setting the “distance” arrow at 10 km will show a pace of 6:11 (6.18) minutes per mile opposite the 712 performance factor. Since 10 km is 6.214 miles this pace will yield a finish time of 38.40 or 38:24.

The computer works over a range of 1 mile to 26.2 miles. Is it geeky? Absolutely. Does it work? Yes.

The computer may be ordered from Jonescounter.com until the stock runs out. Price is $4.00 per unit, postpaid. Any quantity may be ordered if ordered for shipping with a Jones Counter. For computer sales only, a minimum order of 10 units is required.