I am mostly a hand quilter. Used the Tiger Tape for my first one or 2 projects. Found it to be a big help. As others have said, when your table runner is complete, the uneven stitches won't even be noticed.
Another suggestion is to have a 'scrap quilt' piece - maybe 12" square - that you could do a few stitches on to get your rhythm going and then switch over to your actual project. Useful sometimes when you have a day or 2 between quilting sessions.