Leader’s Blog – Aug ’24 – Toby Adkins

Each month, we’ll be sharing the stories and insights of our group leaders. If you are interested in giving leading a go, talk to your group leader at club, or email hello@hydeparkharriers.co.uk we have tonnes of resources to help you, a route library, training sessions and support.  

This month, we’re chatting to Toby who, as most of you know, is our club chairperson. He’s also really keen at leading lots of different groups on a Tuesday – from group 1 upwards. Here, Toby gives us his best leading tips and what he loves about leading.

I really love leading HPH sessions – it’s a great opportunity to get to know our runners, plus being the leader means getting to choose the route, the pace and, most importantly, which horrible hill you’re going to subject everyone to.

I’ve led 200+ HPH groups and sessions over the last seven years and the main piece of advice I’d give is don’t worry too much about my or anyone else’s advice! As long as you’re having fun and making group safety a priority, you can’t go too far wrong! 

That said, I’ve set out some thoughts and lessons I’ve learned in case they’re helpful to anyone keen to give leading a go. 

Don’t worry about doing a complicated route…

It’s absolutely fine to do a simple route – it’s the easiest way to keep your pacing consistent. Copying the routes you’ve done with other leaders is encouraged – do whatever you feel most comfortable with!

…but complicated routes can be great fun!

One of my favourite things to hear when leading is “where the heck are we?!” I love showing people new routes and areas in our city, that they can then use in their own runs. It can be as simple as using a little-known alleyway to link up major roads. Just make sure you’re not running into trouble and/or someone’s garden…

Don’t worry about doing advertised pace – adapt it for your group

Most of the time, your group will be made up of people who are intending to run the advertised pace. I usually let “pack mentality” set the pace and trust that it will be roughly what we need it to be. As long as the group is having fun and staying reasonably cohesive, no one is going to be bothered about staying exactly within the advertised parameters.

Have some sections where people can run ahead

This one requires a bit of confidence and won’t work for all routes, but I usually try to include at least one section where people can go at their own pace for a little while – some may decide they want to sprint ahead, others to ease it off. Long stretches without junctions (like the canal) or big hills are good for this. Just make sure it’s very clear where the section ends and that the group understands they need to regroup at that point.

Don’t be afraid to assert control

In slight contrast to the previous point, it’s important that, as leader, you remain in control of the group. Don’t be afraid to remind people to run behind you if you want to control the pace. If you end up with runners consistently trying to run ahead, a good tactic is to throw in several unexpected turns/side roads – after a couple of those, people swiftly learn to follow their leader, rather than run ahead!

Check in with the group – you don’t always have to be at the front

It’s easier said than done sometimes, but I’d always encourage leaders to check in with as many members of their group as they can, even if it’s just a couple of words to check they’re OK with the pace and enjoying themselves. If I let the group choose its own pace for a section (see point 5 above), I’ll often drop to the back and make my way forward, checking in on everyone as I go.

Encourage people to chat – it’s a social run!

Again, this is easier for the extroverts among us, but ultimately you can run in silence by yourself. Hopefully if you’ve come along to a club run, you’re feeling at least a little bit social – I love having a chat with people about their running, what races they’re doing, what they do outside of club, etc. We’re a really mixed club in terms of life experience – you never know what you might learn from a chat en route!

If you’re not leading, chat to your leader!

Not really a “leading” tip, but a general request to all runners – have a chat with your leader! It can be a bit lonely at the front if everyone is running behind you – if you’re comfortable with the pace, why not come up to the front and keep your leader company?

Lead groups other than the one who you usually run with

If you can lead Group 10 (for example), you can also lead Groups 1 through to 9. I’ve really enjoyed leading groups of all paces – it’s a great opportunity to get different perspectives on our sport, and how we can make the club work for everyone. I’d really encourage everyone to give leading different groups a go – I promise you’ll make loads of new friends.

Always post your numbers in the group or on Spond – it makes me happy

As HPH’s self-appointed archivist, I maintain a spreadsheet of each group’s pace, distance and number of runners after every session. The club uses this to get a better understanding of which groups are popular, how we can optimise pace brackets, etc. I get most of the data from Strava but you can make my life easier by posting how many people you had in your group (or a photo so I can do a headcount). Thanks in advance!

And finally…. don’t be afraid to ask for support

If you’ve read this far, thank you! I hope at least some of it is helpful, or at least interesting! If you’ve got any thoughts on the above, I’d love to discuss them, and if there’s anything we as a club, or me personally, can do to support and help anyone who’d like to give leading a go, I’m always happy to help.

You can chat to any leader or committee member at a club session, or drop us an email at hello@hydeparkharriers.co.uk if you want some support to get started with leading.