Anyone have an answer to our coyote problem?

We have had a recent issue with Coyote in our area. My mother runs every day for about 5-10miles in the woods and it hasn't been an issue till recently that shes had coyotes actually follow her and our 4 dogs she runs with. She was scared to death today when two coyotes ran close beside, chasing her out of the woods. I've asked her to carry possibly a weapon or some type of defense if they ever did attack. We are worried however about our 4 dogs. 2 of the 4 actually run off and later join her at the end of the run so we are concerned about the coyotes attacking them while they are off alone. Also we are concerned that they would attacked the other 2 dogs that follow her, these ones are older and very defensive. What would anyone more educated in this field propose we do? Shes terrified about them attacking our dogs. Her being a marathon runner it would be devastating if she weren't able to run daily.