I have a solid group of kids that I coach in an inner-city of the East Coast. Most who will be coming back next fall will have been running for 2-3 years. As a team, we have two problems: most refuse/don't run during the summer (not allowed to meet with them officially during the off-season) and when they do anything those miles tend to be "junk mileage". Most kids have 5k PRs of 18:30-19:15, but don't like doing 5-7 mile runs at about 7:15-7:30 pace, instead preferring to do all of their runs over 8min pace. Heck, they've got no problem going out for 6-8 mile runs but they always want to do a pretty slow pace. Even during track season when they are doing a warm-up 2-3, they like doing them at 8min pace.
Forgetting that there's no way I can MAKE them run (yes, I preach it all the time, and even use rival schools' kids who improve because they run during the off-season as examples on why it's important) I want to focus on those that do run and how to get them to run pick up the pace. Does anyone else face this issue? Any ideas on how to deal with it?