Running can be a very solitary activity at times, especially when you’re training for a marathon since you potentially won’t be doing the normal sessions with your running club as often. Finding yourself a group of people to train with for a marathon can be a big boost in so many ways, so let’s look at what you need to find.
Goal alignment
You need people who are training for the same marathon as you, or at the most two weeks before or after. More than a fortnight between them, and it’d be better to find another group since you’ll be at very different stages of your training, especially in the taper weeks.
You don’t need to be aiming for the same time necessarily. A group of friends I occasionally ran with all had different times, but would meet before and after long runs, and criss-cross which was always a motivation boost. Even if your paces aren’t the same, there’s something nice about being able to talk about how hard a certain hill on the route was, or that mile running straight into a headwind once it’s over with.
Reliability
If your group is likely to be small, say 3-5 people, then training with reliable people is a must. Even though someone being flakey doesn’t stop your running, it can easily be a source of annoyance which takes your focus away from the task at hand. This becomes even more important if you’re meant to be taking it in turns to plan routes or sessions, or if they drop out last minute rather than a day or two before.
Willingness to stick to a plan
Even if they don’t cancel on you, it’s not uncommon for someone to say “I’m not really feeling it today, I’ll take it a bit easier”. At times that can of course be the right decision, but the main thing from a viewpoint that some may call selfish, is that they’re happy for you to go ahead and do it the way it was planned. They shouldn’t expect you to hold back, although you obviously can if you wish to.
I’ve run with a friend and client several times for different sessions, and we have an agreement to not hold back. More often than not, I’ve been the one dropped and rightly so.
One downside of groups can be always running to the ability of the slowest runner on the day, which ultimately means nobody progresses as much as they could. If the group isn’t particularly focused on times for their individual marathons, that’s fine, but there aren’t many people I come across who don’t have time goals for the big race.
A slight competitive nature
This one really depends on your personality. I like working with people to push each other to achieve more than we could alone. Some people only see someone to beat/lose to which can be helpful as motivation, but sour the relationship if it’s always a one-way street.
If they’re competitive or you both are, a mutual respect is needed, and again adherence to the plan. Don’t let the competition in training put you at risk of injury unnecessarily.
Organised
As a group you need to have a level of organisation or someone who takes the lead, without being bossy. It can save you all a lot of hassle if you take it in turns planning routes and sessions. Another alternative is to hire a coach to plan runs for you, even just long run session types to progress, that you all follow at the appropriate pace. Several people I’ve coached over the years have run with groups and their friends have copied their long runs, so they get a big benefit which as long as the client is happy with it, is fine by me.
Race day
Someone might be great to train with in the build up to your race, but be wary of how people behave when they get nervous, particularly if you’re travelling to the race with them or planning to run together on race day. If you’re reaching for something you’ve never done before, you need to be in the best possible mental state, so the last thing you need is a stressed friend biting your head off or turning into a child who expects you to do everything for them.
Whilst I personally prefer to run solo the majority of the time, there’s no denying that for most people who aren’t as introverted, training and racing with friends can be one of the highlights of the whole marathon experience. Think about the tips I’ve given above when selecting your group or looking for a group to join, and you’ll have a great time.
Written by Kyle Brooks, Running Coach based in Norwich, Norfolk