Pace, also called rhythm or tempo, is the rate of activity or movement, such as in running or the flow of events in an entertainment piece.
All time arts – music, dance, drama, film – are enormously concerned with pacing – with rhythm or tempo. As the film director translates events in a script into actions that make up scenes and sequences, that is, as the director shapes the actors' performances and stages the other actions in front of the camera, one of his paramount concerns is pacing, making the action swell, subside, and swell again. The director does this to keep the scene from losing its energy and intensity. Later, after the shooting is over, the director, working with the film editor, will further control, construct, and perfect the pacing in the way he builds shots into scenes and sequences.
In running, pace is usually defined as the number of minutes it takes to cover a mile or kilometer. Pacing is often a critical aspect of endurance events. Some coaches advocate training at a combination of specific paces related to one's fitness in order to stimulate various physiological improvements.