In reply to UKH Articles:
I think there is a very considerable onus on walking partners to take care of each other. In the context of this article, I think this means that the faster walkers moderate their pace and walk with the slower walkers, rather than striding off and leaving them behind.
When my wife and I were walking more than we can manage now, I was always the quicker walker. In the early days of our relationship, I would be off ahead, and she would be some way behind. We both found it unnecessarily stressful - I was frustrated at her relative slowness, she was frustrated by my apparent lack of regard. So, we changed what we were doing and deciding it would be better if I followed her, walking at her pace. This became an immeasurably more enjoyable affair - we didn't get frustrated with each other, we enjoyed conversation when there was conversation to be had, we enjoyed companiable silence, and we enjoyed sharing the experience of being in the environment, commenting on interesting flora and fauna along the way.
In addition to making the activity more enjoyable, by placing her at the head of the walk, this way of doing things helped my wife improve her skills such as her navigation and her route selection through boggy or rough ground.
Given that the time taken to get to the top and own again is always going to be limited by the slowest walker in the party, there is nothing to be gained by the faster walkers leaving the others behind, if they only have to wait to the slower walkers at intervals.
Or, as Jon Tinker was once quoted in one of Andrew Greig's books. 'If you've got all day to walk from A to B, take all day.' (or words to that effect).