The Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) is a multistage shuttle run created by Leger and Lambert in 1982. The PACER is designed to measure aerobic capacity, which is characterized by endurance, performance, and fitness.

https://www.nova.edu/projectrise/forms/pacer_manual_42309_jk.pdf

It sounds like something we did (in the US) in gym class, but I’ve never heard it called that before.