RunPackGuides · 5 min read
How to lead a group run (without losing anyone)
Leading a group run for your crew or club: picking a route, setting the pace, regrouping, sweeping the back, and making newcomers want to come back next week.
Leading a group run is less about running and more about hosting. Your job is to get everyone round the route and back, and to make it a run people want to repeat.
Plan the route
- Loops beat out-and-backs for mixed paces: faster runners can add a lap and nobody runs alone for long.
- Pick wide paths and few road crossings. Every crossing splits the group.
- Share it in advance: the distance, a map link, and where you’ll regroup.
Brief the group at the start
Thirty seconds is enough: the route, the pace, where you’ll wait, and who’s at the back. Ask if anyone is new and introduce them.
Set a pace the group can talk at
Run at the pace of the slower runners, not the average. If people are breathing too hard to chat, ease off. Say the pace out loud at the start so faster runners know what they signed up for.
Regroup often
Stop at junctions, at the top of hills and every couple of kilometres. Faster runners can loop back to the last person and rejoin, which gives them extra distance and keeps the group together.
Have a sweeper
Ask one experienced runner to stay at the back. Nobody should finish alone, and nobody should be left wondering which way the group went.
After the run
Count heads, thank people for coming, and say when the next one is. Newcomers decide whether to come back in the first five minutes after the run, so talk to them.
Keep the crew going between runs
A regular run is the heart of a group. What happens between runs keeps it alive. With RunPack, everyone’s runs land in a private crew feed, and each week the crew gets a challenge set from each person’s own running (coming in the next version). Free for crews of up to 4, up to 30 with Plus, which suits a small running club. More ideas in keeping a running group motivated.