Why Running Alone Is Awesome, According to Experts

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It can be an isolating experience. Out on the road with your local run club, watching everyone relish the camaraderie, chatting and laughing as they tick off the miles. But you feel distant. You’re not enjoying it, and you can’t shake the feeling that you’d be better off running alone. Maybe you ignore that feeling of discomfort (or is it dread? annoyance?) and show up a few more times. But it never clicks.

Know this: You might just prefer to run on your own. And you’re not alone (even though you might prefer to be!). Plenty of runners, including some of the coaches and running club dropouts in this story, don’t benefit from training with others. They’re more motivated and engaged when running by themselves.

And that’s fine! Your aversion to the group workout dynamic could help you better understand your personality and values. Join us (or retreat to a quiet, unpopulated corner) to unpack why group run “fun” is so cringey for some athletes. Plus, read on for tips and advice for turning down group invites and gracefully decoupling from an accountability buddy.

Group Runs Can Be Great—For Some Runners

First, a disclaimer. We’re not trying to rag on running clubs, group runs, or running buddies. In fact, they can be fantastic training resources for athletes of all levels. If you struggle with consistency or tend to skip runs when you’re a little tired or the weather is less than ideal, knowing that someone is counting on you may keep you accountable.

Running with others can distract you from fatigue and help pass the time. Joining a club is a great way to meet people and make new friends. Plus, there’s research that shows we often work harder when we have an audience. And one study on London Marathon finishers found that, on average, runners who belong to a club finished faster than those who trained on their own.

Bottom line: There are a lot of potential benefits to group running, which is why runners—especially beginners—are often encouraged to seek out social support. It’s also why it can be so confusing when running with others doesn’t work for you.

Why You Hate Running With Other People

Depending on your personality type, you may not need or appreciate the external accountability that a running group or buddy offers, says Gretchen Rubin, best-selling author and host of the podcast Happier With Gretchen Rubin. Rubin, who researches happiness and productivity, created a personality framework called “The Four Tendencies,” which helps explain how different people respond to expectations.

Rubin says that “obligers” meet outer expectations but struggle to meet the expectations they put upon themselves. “Obligers are the biggest group of people, and they need accountability, so I think a lot of people assume that everybody needs it,” she says.

But that’s just not the case for the other three groups. People who are “rebels” and resist all expectations may resent everything about a running group—the specific meeting time and predetermined route, the group rules, the pacing guidelines. A “questioner” only meets expectations that they’re convinced are worthwhile, so they may or may not enjoy the structure and support of a running group. And an “upholder,” who has no problem keeping the promises they make to themselves, could find group runs unnecessary and inconvenient.

This was the case for Todd Buckingham, Ph.D.,  exercise physiologist at PTSportsPRO in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He joined a local running group during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when all racing was on hold. The running group offered some structure and social interaction during a time when there was very little of either. However, ultimately, the group workouts didn’t align with his training, and he found that he didn’t need external motivation to work out. So, he stopped going.

“I don’t need someone to get me out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to go for a run. I’m fully capable of doing that on my own, and adding somebody else into that makes it more difficult,” he says. The timing of the runs wasn’t convenient, the workouts didn’t serve his personal goals, and he struggled to find someone who ran at his pace.

The Pace Problem

Pacing is another common issue; experienced runners don’t want to water down their workouts, and new runners don’t want to be “babysat” or left in the dust. Danielle Zickl, a health and fitness writer, started running as an easy way to stay in shape. She found solo running to be a meditative, no-pressure experience. She’d simply put on her shoes, head out the door, and run for as long as she felt like it.

Running with a group only added pressure. “It was more of a competition instead of, ‘I’m doing this for fun,’” she says. She found herself comparing her times to those of other runners, and more than once, she was separated from the group. “They would say, ‘All paces welcome,’ but then it would be me and maybe one other person, and we’d be so far behind,” she says. “I almost got lost because I didn’t know where they were.”

For some runners, having an audience feels worse than being excluded. “Running is so transparent, and everyone can see your pace, and there’s nowhere to hide. It’s a very vulnerable thing,” says Will Baldwin, USATF and VDOT-certified running coach. It can be humbling—embarrassing, even—to be seen struggling or be the slowest runner in the group. “That can really hurt someone’s feelings and demotivate them from coming back to a group run.”

The Benefits of Running Solo

Even if you don’t hate running with other people, you may simply enjoy running by yourself more. After all, there’s a lot to love about a solo run.

First of all, you’re calling all the shots. You pick the time, pace, location, and type of run. And you can be as spontaneous as your own life allows. You can decide to do a 10 p.m. treadmill run at 9:45 p.m. You can switch your long run from Saturday to Sunday at the last minute without anyone else’s permission. Perhaps even more importantly, a 2024 study showed that this type of autonomy in choosing your run impacts brain waves in a positive way (better cognition and mood) as opposed to runners who engaged in “prescribed” runs.

Solo runs also allow you to be more precise with your programming. A thoughtfully designed training program is periodized and typically includes base, build, peak, taper, and recovery phases that are specific to a runner’s experience and fitness level. So even if all the members of a running group are training for the same event, they may not benefit from the same workout. The more customized the programming, the better.

Running by yourself, especially if you forgo music or podcasts, allows you to connect with your body and mind. You can listen to your breathing and pay attention to your heart rate. You can get a sense of what “hard” and “easy” runs feel like. You can practice pushing through fatigue without the distraction of company. Plus, a 2022 study found that this type of mind-body connection is actually what makes running feel good while it’s happening, not just afterward.

And for some people with packed schedules, demanding jobs, or family obligations, running is the only time they get to themselves. “For me, running is my time,” Buckingham says. “You can just shut your brain off and go for a run.”

How to Break Up With Your Running Group

It’s easy enough just to stop showing up to a running group with which you have little personal connection. Chances are, the group leaders are used to people coming and going as their schedules and circumstances change, and no one will think twice.

Things get more complicated when you need to extricate yourself from a more intimate group or “break up” with a running buddy. You don’t want to offend anyone or lose friends, but you also need to honor the type of running that best serves you.

“Just be honest,” says Dr. Ryan S. Sultán,  a dual board-certified child and adult psychiatrist. “You can say, ‘I like to run on my own. It helps me clear my head.’ There’s no need to come up with elaborate explanations,” he says. If you’d like, you can let them know you still want to connect with them outside of running by inviting them to grab coffee or attend a social event together.

Rubin also suggests keeping your message simple. “If you try to make excuses, they may try to meet them. Like, if you say, ‘I like to be quiet when I run,’ they may say, ‘Oh, that’s OK, you don’t have to talk,’” she says. “You can just be like, ‘It’s not my thing.’”