The Unsung Heroes Behind the Sydney Marathon

Editor’s note: Being a pacer involves sacrifice, but it’s incredibly rewarding. Lucia Branco is a self-described slow runner who’ll be shepherding home some of the Sydney Marathon’s most-determined participants: those coming in at the seven-hour cutoff. Helena Granzeira is co-captain of the pacers’ group and will lead those targeting the four-hour mark. Read these running role models’ stories below.

This is the second feature in Tempo Journal’s five-part look at some of the dozen community ambassadors who are the beating heart of Sydney 2025. Read the first article, a profile on writer and run crew leader Tara Meakins, here.

If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes an army to roll out a race. For the 2025 TCS Sydney Marathon, more than 4,000 people have stuck their hands up to volunteer for the event’s historic debut as the world’s seventh major.

Among the thousands giving up their time to support more than 35,000 people in the most exciting event on Australia’s running calendar, one group deserves particular recognition. These are the 120 role-model runners willing to sacrifice their race to pace others across the finish line.

Yet being part of the pace team is about so much more than running side-by-side with strangers. It’s about supporting those in what may be the toughest moment of their lives, and lifting them up when they feel like quitting. It’s more than just a physically demanding gig. It’s about digging deep and keeping spirits high across 42.2 kilometres. But the ones who are in it for the longest haul rarely get the glory of finishing in front of a crowd.

The “sweepers” are the ones who are out there for the most time – at least seven hours after they cross the start line in Sydney – and remain with the slowest runners on the course. But for 2025 sweeper and TCS Sydney Marathon community ambassador Lucia Banco, a self-described “back-of-the-pack” runner who finds joy in the journey and camaraderie of race day, that’s where the spirit of the marathon shines the brightest.

“Being a pacer that's more towards the back of the pack, that’s where you find the true grit that comes out in runners,” she says, “because they’re so determined to finish.”

46-year-old Lucia’s running journey started about 15 years ago as part of a weight loss plan that featured a 1km time trial. “I was like, ‘Oh okay, this is a bit of fun,' so I started doing 5km and 10km events, and then I thought, ‘Oh, why not do a half marathon?” From the moment Lucia ran out onto the MCG, after racking up 21.1kms around Melbourne, she was hooked on racing and since then has gone on to complete 12 marathons.

But her most memorable, and emotional, was Boston – the race that earned the Sydney-based runner her Six Star Medal after an eight-year campaign that began in New York City in 2016. “That was such a surreal experience,” Lucia describes of the moment she crossed the finish line in Boston. “I put a lot of work into that race. I had never trained so hard for an event in my life. And I managed to do the triple, as they say: I became a Boston marathoner, got a PB, and I got my Abbott Six Star Medal. I don’t think anything else can compare to that, but the thing that will come closest is running Sydney in its first year as a major.”

Running on 31 August will also earn Lucia something that most Aussies can only dream of. As one of just under a thousand people in Australia to hold a Six Star Medal, she’ll take out a seventh world major. “Not many people can say that they got an Abbott World Marathon star in their home marathon in their home city, so that's going to feel so real when I cross that finish line in Sydney.”

For Lucia, one of the Sydney Marathon’s 12 community ambassadors, running has never been about time. “I get it done; I’m not fast, and I'm not bothered about it,” she says. “I run because I can and not everyone can. So for me, that's a big thing, and I'm more about making sure that everyone feels included in running. It doesn't matter if you’re fast; it doesn't matter if you’re in the middle. It's about finish lines, not finish times.”

It’s this endearing attitude that has led Lucia to a life of pacing. “My first experience as a pacer was at the Sydney Marathon in 2023 as a seven-hour pacer,” she recalls. “I had two people who stuck with me the whole way and they cried when they crossed the finish line. We had people say to us pacers, ‘Thank you so much, we couldn’t have done it without you,’ and it’s that feeling that you did that; you helped them achieve that goal.”

Ahead of this year’s event, Lucia has also been helping to pace groups at the Sydney Marathon Run Club’s monthly runs. “Again, it’s about making sure that people are aware that the marathon caters for all paces,” she explains. “Everyone's journey is different, and there's a pace group for everyone.”

With the number of participants at the start line of the Sydney Marathon jumping from 25,000 in 2024 to a record-breaking 35,000 in 2025, the event’s pace team manager Simon Wolnizer has had to double his headcount to 120 pacers. Half hail from NSW while a quarter will fly in from interstate or New Zealand, and the remainder will make the journey from overseas, with a roughly 60% male and 40% female split.

“We were trying to not only look at the gender split but [also] to have different nationalities from all over the globe represented in the pace team,” he explains. “We want to make sure the pacing team looks like everybody else, because they’re the runners that people look up to.” This year, the Sydney Marathon will boast pacers with a 2:40 finish time – which Simon points out is 20 minutes quicker than any of the other World Marathon Majors – to 7:00 which is the cut off. Between 2:40 and four hours, there will be pacers every five minutes. After 4:00, they will be every 10 and 15 minutes, and then, at seven hours, there will be five sweepers.

“They’re the people who are always the last on the road because they will run with the slowest runners,” Simon says. “They’re always the final finishers so it’s a pretty emotional role.”

It’s this emotion, and the sense of being able to help people achieve greatness, that runs through Lucia. “I’m very much looking forward to being part of the sweeper team and helping people to achieve their goal of finishing a marathon, especially in the first year for Sydney being a major,” she says.

For the 46-year-old, it’s always been about giving back to the sport that’s given her so much. “Running has enabled me to go on some amazing experiences and some amazing trips, and I've made great friends,” she reminisces. “But now that I’ve completed my Six Star, soon to be seven, my shift has changed to giving back to the community and helping people who are back-of-the-pack runners to think, ‘Yeah, I can do it.’”

After a dozen marathons, Lucia knows all too well that to survive 42.2 kilometres you’ve got to have the right mindset. “That's one thing I learnt during my time running the majors: that if you've got the right mindset, you can achieve anything.

“I want to help people who think ‘No, I can’t do it – I can’t run a marathon’ to overcome that mindset. It’s like, you can do it; you’ve just got to have someone to show you the way, someone who has that belief in you. And that’s what a lot of the back-of-the-pack runners sometimes don’t necessarily have. They’ll think that marathons are only for people who can run fast, but they’re not. They’re for anyone who’s got the will and the determination to cross that finish line. And that's what gives me joy – seeing the satisfaction and the smiles on people's faces when they finish, and that's what I love about being a pacer.”

Helena Granzeira is another pacer passionate about supporting others and bringing people together, united in shared hopes, fears, setbacks and victories. She’s the co-captain of the pace team and another Sydney Marathon community ambassador, proving that she's come a long way from the days when she hated running.

“I started running in 2022 when I realised that I needed a hobby outside of work,” she explains. “Running was something that I was always afraid of, but I hated that it had that hold over me so I was determined to conquer it. Once I’d started, I realised that it wasn’t as scary as I thought it was, and that not only was it not scary but that I actually loved it.”

Helena’s first race was the Sydney Harbour 10K that year. “I didn’t think I could run that far and I was so delighted when I did,” she gushes. “That feeling was contagious and I started to chase the next challenge.”

Just three years after first giving running a go, Helena now feels “incredibly lucky” to have been selected as a pace team co-captain. “I started pacing because I was so grateful for the support that others had offered me during my races, and I wanted to give back because I’d been so lucky to have been the recipient of their generosity and kindness,” explains the community ambassador. “I love the fact, in some small part, that I can share some of what running has done for me with others. It has enriched my life in so many ways, and to think that I can help others to experience that is incredibly fulfilling.”

She’s also delighted in being able to support her pacing partners. “It’s a big responsibility, being co-captain, and being offered this position really was an honour. It is such a source of joy to be able to work with others, to help them grow as pacers and runners, and to see their confidence develop. At the heart of it is the fact that I just like helping out. Whether I had the title or not, I’d still be doing whatever I could to help out.”

Even if it means giving up a shot at a PB. “For me now, my running journey is more about helping people,” Helena explains. “There will always be another race, there will always be another chance to do it, and not every race can or should be a PB. But when it comes to the big ones for me now, it’s important to give back and help people achieve what they think they’re not able to achieve. And that doesn’t mean I have to forego participating in some really fun events. I get to help others, soak in the race-day vibes, and run without the pressure of having to hit pace or time goals.”

With the Sydney Marathon preparing for the greatest event it’s ever seen, the message is clear. “These events only work if we all come together and take turns to give back,” Helena insists. “Every time you volunteer you are giving others an opportunity to appreciate this thing we love so much.”

Lucia adds that it’s also about so much more than just giving up your time. “If you want to really get that satisfaction out of helping, being a volunteer or a pacer – that’s where you see the joy in people's faces,” she explains. “I’ve got a friend that's volunteering on race day at the 40K mark and she can't wait to see people come through at that point.”

With registrations still open for positions within the volunteer program, both in the lead-up to and on the event day, both Helena and Lucia are calling on the public to step up and support others. “Do it because you will not regret it,” Lucia says. “You'll get the joy and the satisfaction of giving back to the sport.”

And this is the year to do it.

“The fact that Sydney is a World Marathon Major, I don't think a lot of people understand what that means,” Lucia says. “Not only does it put Sydney running on the map; it puts Australian running on the map. It's going to boost the economy and it just gives the event that extra sense of pride because there are hundreds of thousands of marathons around the world but not all of them can be a world major. And the fact that we've got a World Marathon Major in our backyard, it just speaks volumes.”

In Lucia’s words, “It's going to be an experience like no other.”

And if you’re not able to volunteer, come out to cheer.

“Running is one of the few sports that doesn't discriminate because people will cheer if you come in first, if you come in the middle, or if you come in at the back,” says Lucia. “And that's what I love about it.”