title: Effect of spatial and temporal cues on athletic pacing in schoolchildren.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare pacing and performance of schoolchildren between running tasks where the end point was defined in units of either distance or time.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight schoolchildren (age = 12.6 ± 0.5 yr, mass = 46.2 ± 7.5 kg, stature = 150 ± 7 cm) first performed a best-effort 750-m running task on a 150-m running track. The schoolchildren were split into two groups, matched for sex, age, and running performance, before completing the second running trial. One group repeated the 750-m running task (distance-distance group), whereas the other completed a running task to a time that had been matched to their previous 750-m performance (distance-time group). Pace was measured every 10% segment throughout each run.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No difference between trials in average running speed was found among the distance-distance group (13.64 ± 1.59 vs. 13.68 ± 1.62 km·h(-1), P > 0.05); however, the distance-time group were slower during the time task compared with during the distance task (13.84 ± 1.61 vs. 13.37 ± 1.57 km·h(-1), P < 0.005). There was no difference in pacing pattern between trials among the distance-distance group (P > 0.05), but the distance-time group exhibited a slower overall slower pace with no end spurt (P < 0.0001). During the time task, children looked at their watches more frequently the nearer they got to the end point (ρ = 0.933, P < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Schoolchildren find it easier to use spatial cues during a pacing task compared with temporal cues. Running pace in all trials followed a classic U-shaped pattern; however, lap-by-lap oscillations in pacing substrategies were also evident, which may be a psychological coping strategy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chinnasamy
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: St Clair Gibson
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Micklewright
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*; D014741:Video Recording