Mystic — Kelsey Seddon has competed in races ranging from the Tarzan Brown Run to the Boston Marathon. But on Thursdays, she stays at the back of her running group to help some of the area's newest runners get a good start.

Seddon, a Westerly resident who works in the Groton school district as a reading specialist, founded Mystic Milers this summer. She said she played sports through high school but didn't pick up running until college, citing her father as a major inspiration.

"He's a really avid runner and he always talked about the benefits of staying healthy and staying moving," she said. "When I got to college, I kind of took his advice in mind and I used it as a way to socialize and form a community in my dorm."

Since then, she has run in several local races, including winning the women's open division in the 2012 Tarzan Brown Run, and she qualified for and ran in the Boston Marathon in 2015. She said now she can't picture life without running and started the group to get other people in the area together around the sport she loves.

"It's not really a race," she said. "It's more of a training as a team, and I think that that's kind of what the Mystic Milers stand for."

Seddon goes out every Thursday afternoon to set up cones every half-mile along Pearl Street and River Road to give runners an idea of where to turn around. She also sets up stations for extra exercises such as pushups along the way. At around 6 p.m., about 20 to 25 people gather outside the Harp and Hound on Pearl Street in Mystic for warmup stretches and announcements.

After that, runners are free to run on their own or in groups to any distance they choose up to five miles. While the overall group goal is to become a better runner, individual goals within the group include being able to complete a 5K or achieving a personal best time for the five-mile run for those training for marathons.

Seddon usually stays behind to work on agility skills with newer runners. On Thursday, she set up an interval program for a group of five runners, starting with 30 seconds of running or walking and eventually building up to a three-minute run for the final stretch back to the pub.

Caroline Chapman of Stonington has been running with the Mystic Milers since it started at the beginning of the summer. She said she had tried running a few years ago before a serious fall sidelined her for nearly two years, and she has seen a lot of progress with her balance and endurance since joining.

"I don't go far and I don't go fast, but I'm running," she said. Her eventual goal is to complete a 10K race, but she also enjoys just hanging out with everyone after each outing and being part of a supportive and friendly group.

When forming the Mystic Milers, Seddon also reached out to businesses in downtown Mystic for support, since some new runners may struggle with finding an incentive to run weekly. The Harp and Hound offers a free beer to members of the group once they return, and Drawbridge Ice Cream offers free ice cream for runners who complete the extra stretch, which opens up the group to families that want to participate.

Before the group took off Thursday, a raffle was drawn for free tickets to the Mystic Luxury Cinema.

Seddon said members of the group have made a lot of progress since the beginning of the summer, and she sees a lot of potential.

"This group in particular has my heart," she said.

For more information, email mysticmilers@gmail.com or visit their Facebook page.

a.hutchinson@theday.com