RunPackGuides · 6 min read
How to start a running group (that people actually show up to)
How to start a running group or small running club with friends: how many people, when and where to run, handling different paces, and staying in touch.
Starting a running group is easy. Getting people to show up in week six is the hard part. Most groups that fade don’t fail because people stop liking running — they fail because nobody knows when the next run is, or the pace never works for anyone.
1. Start small
Three to eight people is plenty. You don’t need a club with a committee; you need a few people who’d like company. Ask friends who already run, coworkers, or the person you keep passing on the same loop.
2. Fix one time and one place
“Let’s run sometime” never happens. “Tuesdays, 7:00, from the park gate” does. A fixed slot removes the weekly back-and-forth, and people can plan around it.
3. Plan for different paces
- Make the group run easy. Everyone can talk — that’s the point. Hard sessions can happen on other days.
- Use loops or out-and-backs. Faster runners add a lap or turn later; everyone finishes together.
- Meet at the end. Coffee afterwards keeps the group together even when the run splits.
4. Have one place for the group
A group chat works for “who’s in tomorrow?”. It works less well for seeing what everyone ran during the week. That in-between part — seeing your friends’ runs, cheering them on — is what keeps a group feeling like a group between meetups.
That’s what RunPack crews are for: a private feed of everyone’s runs, from any device, plus a weekly goal you work on together. Free crews hold up to four people; with RunPack Plus, one person pays and the crew can grow to thirty.
5. Give the week a target
A shared goal — say, a number of workouts between you this week — gives people a reason to log the solo runs too. It resets every week, so missing one doesn’t end anything.
6. Keep it welcoming
Nobody gets dropped, nobody gets judged for a slow week. The groups that last are the ones people feel fine coming back to after a month off.
Already have a group? See how to keep a training crew going.