The FitnessGram Pacer(Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run) Test is a test used in American schools that tests the cardio abilities of children. The test is usually made fun of due to its Battle Royale like “last-child-standing” nature, the scared reactions of children who learn they have to take it, the goofy music that plays as you run that signifies laps, or the voice of the man who says instructions.
Origin
According to The official Pacer Test handbook, the Pacer test was created in 1982 by Leger and Lambert in 1982, claiming it to be an effective and fun way to measure the cardio abilities of a group of children.
The Test and How it Works
Since its creation, the Pacer test has been used in many schools to measure the abilities of the children, who see it as a race due to the organization of the actual test. Children are told to stand in a line, and run across a 20 meter space when they hear a chime on the tape. If a child fails to make it across before the next chime twice, they are out and have to sit and watch their classmates try to finish after everyone else. This is usually seen as an embarrassment, and leads to ridicule among peers, with insults such as “X is so lazy. He only made it past 10 beeps on the Pacer!” Due to this, the Pacer is generally seen with contention and resentment by children who have grown into adults that had to take it every year.
Immortalization as a Meme
In early 2016, the Pacer Test was turned into a Vine/ifunny trend with comical/shocking videos of people running. Though the origin of the meme is unknown, one of the earliest known uses of the test as a joke is that of ifunny user “TheGoldenDarkness”, who made a Vine that makes fun of the voice of the instructor by placing it over an annoying noise from a tv show (Below)
This sparked a new trend that has been slowly taking the attention of Vine users, and has infected ifunny.