On any given day, solitary figures lope along many of the region’s favorite routes — River Road in Mystic, Pequot Avenue in New London, the Niantic Bay Boardwalk, Mohegan Park in Norwich — embodying the iconic loneliness of the long-distance runner.

But in recent years a new trend has evolved, and the best way to explain it would be to describe the early-evening scene last Tuesday outside the Dog Watch Café in Stonington.

Hundreds of smiling, shorts-clad men and women of all ages lined up on Water Street for the start of a weekly fun run — not a race, but a friendly, 3.1-mile jog/stroll that loops twice through the borough’s narrow streets.

After crossing the finish line, each adult received a popsicle stick, and herein lies a principal reason for the growing popularity of the Dog Watch event and several similar group runs in southeastern Connecticut: the sticks can be redeemed for a beer or glass of wine.

“You can go for a run and get a free drink just about every night of the week,” crowed Way Hedding of Niantic, who was there with his wife, Melinda.

Hedding is one of the most familiar faces in the local running community, serving as an official timer for many organized competitions and as longtime director of the annual Ocean Beach/John & Jessie Kelley Race. He also has been known to bend an elbow with pals from time to time, so it was not surprising to see Hedding in the mob outside the Dog Watch before the run, then, after trotting half an hour or so with friends, clutching a brew while gazing at the sunset from a dock overlooking Stonington Harbor.

Also in the crowd was Jim Roy of Mystic, an equally gregarious runner who organizes his own group sessions on Sundays, is chairman of the John Kelley Memorial Fund, board member of Girls on The Run and organizer/promoter of the Mystic Half Marathon.

“This is great!” he exclaimed while clapping backs and shaking hands at Tuesday’s first Dog Watch run of the season, much like the class president at his high-school reunion.

At an outdoor table near the starting line, Heather Bessette of Stonington was signing up entrants.

“I borrowed the idea 10 years ago from a bar in Florida that held weekly races,” she said. “Whoever came in first would get $100, and the beers cost a dollar, so the winner suddenly had 99 friends,” she said. Heather, a competitive runner and coach, persuaded her sister and brother-in-law, Wendy and Dave Eck, the Dog Watch general managers, to modify the gimmick in Stonington, offering free drinks instead of prize money.

“At first, only a few dozen people came,” recalled Wendy Eck. Once word spread, though, the crowd swelled to as many as 400 people, some wearing T-shirts proclaiming “I’m a drinker with a running problem.”

The success of the Dog Watch outings, which continue through mid-August, inspired other watering holes to organize similar runs. Limiting the free alcohol to one drink appears to have minimized problems, and to date there have been no reports of RUI — running under the influence.