Dropping Runners during Group Runs

Is dropping runners run okay during a group run? In my opinion it is not for a couple of reasons.

Group runs are meant to provide runners of various abilities the opportunity to run together.

Group runs are really meant to be more of a social gather at a pace appropriate for all runners.

Now, how do you make this happen if you are organizing a group run?

There are least a couple of options.

For 1^st option, you state in the group run invite that everyone runs together and the pace will adjust accordingly. This will set the agenda for the run and everyone knows what to expect. And, no one will be upset when the pace slows down. Also this keeps the pace at a level where people are not doing tempo or progressive runs in the latter half of the run. No one wants be just hanging off the back.

The 2^nd option is to break the group runs up based on a particular pace. For instance, you can say that group one is looking to average 7 minute miles while group two will average 8 minute pace. Then, runners have the option as to which group to join. It also shows that the organizers of the group are knowledgeable of who are running and getting the group organized so that everyone has a running buddy.

Now, before ding me for my comments, yes, I understand that even using these options or some other option, there is no guarantee that you can keep everyone together. Some runners may be having a bad day – it happens. Or, runner might not be ready no matter what the pace is. In these cases, just make sure that they are okay and that they know the way back to the start. Being dropped is one thing, but being lost takes on a whole new level of frustration.

Again, group runs should be just that an easy recovery workout where everyone can chat and catch up and above all group runs should be fun for everyone.