Running is both a competitive sport and a type of training for those sports which have running or endurance components. As a sport, it is split into events divided by distance and sometimes includes permutations such as the obstacles in steeplechase and hurdles. Perhaps the most basic of athletic contests, running races are simply contests to determine which of the competitors is able to run a certain distance in the shortest time. Today, competitive running events make up the core of athletics. Events are usually grouped into several classes, each requiring substantially different athletic strengths and involving different tactics, training methods, and types of competitors.

Running competitions have probably existed for most of humanity's history, and were a key part of the ancient Olympic Games as well as the modern Olympics.

Jogging as a form of exercise originated in England in the mid seventeenth century. The usage of the term "jog" became common throughout the empire, and in his 1884 novel "My Run Home," the Australian author Rolf Boldrewood wrote, "your bedroom curtains were still drawn as I passed on my morning jog."

In the United States jogging was also called "roadwork" when athletes in training (such as boxers) customarily ran several miles each day as part of their conditioning. In New Zealand during the 1960s and 1970s the word "roadwork" was mostly supplanted by the word "jogging," promoted by famous track and running coach Arthur Lydiard, and this form of running became quite popular among many people at that time. University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman, after jogging with Lydiard in New Zealand, brought the concept of jogging as exercise to the United States in 1962. Bowerman published the book "Jogging" in 1966, and later updated the book for a 1967 republication. Bowerman established jogging programs for men and women of all ages. The popularity of these programs helped to spread the concept of jogging as an exercise for everyone throughout the United States.