Would you leave a friend behind?

[BurpeesAreTheWorkOfTheDevil]

If 2 people at different levels of fitness take part in a sponsored event for charity would you expect the faster to slow down to walk with their friend or get on at their speed and meet at the end?

There's a time limit on checkpoints, if you're not there in time you can't carry on.

Yes I'd think it was fine to split up and meet afterwards. I'd be the slow one and would be embarrassed if somebody slowed to my pace the whole way round.

I’ve done many runs with friends and I’ve always told them to crack on and I’ll see them at the end. It’s really hard to run too fast or too slow for any distance.

A walk would be different as you’re not shooting for a specific time.

Well, I would....

You can leave your friends behind

('Cause your friends don't dance
And if they don't dance
Well they're no friends of mine)

I'm generally not wildly competitive (although I run, it's the getting there not the time for me) so I'd personally enjoy the event more if I slowed down and ran with my mate (assuming I'm the faster) - I certainly wouldn't run off ahead without making sure they knew and were happy being alone.
Having said that, I wouldn't enter an event with just one person who was at a wildly different fitness level/attitude to competition.

Unless my running mate was an elderly tortoise with a wooden leg and mange or something - I'd expect to be left for dead behind. It's not fair on the faster one to slow down that much, and possibly not make the finish, especially if people are sponsoring them to complete it.

Agree beforehand what you are doing.

I’ve done an event like this where I trained loads and friend didn’t (despite agreeing up front on what training was needed). Friend really struggled on the day and had I been going to miss a check point because of her lack of training I absolutely would have left her. But she knew that from the beginning and I’d have expected her to do the same if it was me stopping her get to a check point.

Theres a time limit between check points so you need to go at a pace that assures you get there. The fitter person could slow down but if the slow one is so unfit they arent going to meet the times then no. And also why the hell sign up to begin with?!

You really should agree beforehand and stick to it

It depends on the event. A fun obstacle course type run is probably more fun together, a normal run you should go at your own pace and meet up at the end.

I’d rather be left. If I need a breather/to walk/ water I don’t want to feel bad or like I can’t stop because I’m holding them up. You’ll be out of breath of running so you can’t exactly chat either so don’t see the point of them sowing down

Yes, , definitely in that situation - you're being sponsored to complete the event. If you're disqualified for being too slow, then you can't collect the sponsorship money. If you're both disqualifed, then the charity loses two lots of sponsorship money. That undermines the whole point of taking part.

It really depends on the event and what you’ve agreed. I did an event where the faster guys cracked on but the slower ones including me stuck together; I found it frustrating but had agreed to it so kept my word!

It would be quite annoying if the faster friend slowed down to my pace. I'd feel pressured to keep up the pace and I really wouldn't appreciate it.

I think generally people meet at the end since everyone tends to race at their own space, unless otherwise agreed...

Tough day, OP?

I'd expect to have a conversation first about what was going to happen

Good user name, OP.

Are you going to come back and fill in the blanks/let us know what happened?

I've done marathons and half marathons with friends' in the past.

I'm slower than the people I tend to run with so my role in the full marathon distance is to stop them going too fast up until the 13 mile or 18 mile mark depending on their speed.

Half marathons while we were marathon training we did together as they were training runs.

When I've done runs with people slower than me I do it with them to help them compete it, otherwise I deliberately don't start with them and arrange to meet them at the end.

Depends on the event, during a marathon event me and my friend spilt, I'm an adult it's fine we met at the finish line.

The fast one should go on ahead and wait for the slow one at the finish line, no matter how long that involves waiting.

If it wasn’t discussed I’d assume we would go together and I’d wait for them and vice versa. I’ve done a charity run with a group and one of them couldn’t run on the day because of an injury. The four of us walked it, no problem at all.

If no time checks I'd expect to stick together. Need to discuss what to do, though.

Discuss before hand so everyone knows the score.

But I would always wait at the finish line for someone even if I’d run ahead.

I would prefer to discuss beforehand so there's no uncertainty, but I'd be the slow one and if my faster friend just zoomed ahead I'd not be upset and just do my best.

I would also expect to be left behind in the Zombie Apocalypse so that dd had at least a better chance of survival while I distracted them.

I'd be the slow one (unless it was a race for arthritic sloths). I'd prefer the fast one to zoom off ahead, or else I'd probably do myself an injury desperately trying not to hold them up to badly.

I would expect both people to go at their own pace. It would annoy me if I had a faster friend who was quite obviously going at my pace to make me feel better.

I’ve been both the slower and faster runner. DH has been both the slower and faster cyclist.

Fastest goes ahead in an event, always.

I’d always make sure that it was clear well ahead of time though.