This is even better
sub dist_core
{
    my $self = shift;
    my $dist_core = $self->SUPER::dist_core(@_);
    $dist_core =~ s/dist : (\$\(DIST_DEFAULT\))/dist :  distcheck pause $1/;
    $dist_core .= qq|\n\npause : \n\t\@\$\(PERL\) -e'print "Press a key\\n"; <STDIN>'|;
    return $dist_core;
}
Now it does the distcheck, pauses, and then makes the tarball.