When was running invented?

It’s one of the most popular sports in modern times with many of us putting one foot in front of the other for health, fun and fitness but when was running actually invented and why did we start doing it?

Steph Davis, Olympian and coach for running app Runna, investigates the origins of this ancient activity.

When did running start? The early days

If we look back in history to when running was invented, there isn’t a concrete date or a named person who was the first runner.

However, there are lots of fascinating milestones that have developed running from a form of transport into the sport it is today.

In the Old Stone Age, humans were running for survival. We ran to escape predators, hunt animals and move from A to B.

There was a need to run. It wasn’t always a choice or something to do for fun. Running was a survival instinct and necessity.

When did running become a sport?

Running officially became a competitive sport in Olympia in Ancient Greece, where the first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC. The one and only running race was a short sprint, with the marathon distance arriving a lot later.

In 490 BC the first unofficial and unplanned ‘marathon’ took place in the form of the legendary run of Pheidippides. It’s believed that a Greek soldier named Pheidippides ran approximately 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver the news of a military victory against the Persians.

Pheidippides ran the roughly 26 miles across rugged terrain to warn his people of the victory and prevent them from surrendering or destroying the city in fear. Upon reaching Athens, he is said to have burst into the assembly, declared “Nenikēkamen!” (“We have won!”), and then collapsed and died from exhaustion.

However, it wasn’t until centuries later that it inspired the modern marathon race, and the distance was formally standardised by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF).

When did women start competing in races?

In the 19th Century, competitive running and running races took place in Europe with the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. People only ran to compete and women’s racing was still very limited.

It wasn’t until 1926 when women began to run the marathon. Even then, they were not officially recognised as part of the race!

Violet Piercy was one of the first women to run a marathon and challenged the notion that women were too fragile to run. Violet Piercy’s marathon was not part of a formal race but a solo, time-trial effort that made it all the more remarkable. Piercy ran the full 26 miles from Windsor to London, following public roads rather than a closed course, and completed the distance in around 3h40min.

There were no crowds, no medals and no official recognition at the time, yet Piercy carefully documented the run, ensuring the distance was measured and her time recorded. Although it was never officially ratified, her performance is often cited as the first recorded women’s marathon.

The moment most often credited as the first time a woman ran officially in a major race came about at the 1967 Boston Marathon. American long-distance runner Kathrine Switzer entered the race using her initials, K.V. Switzer, which allowed her to receive an official bib at a time when women were barred from marathon competition.

Mid-race, race official Jock Semple spotted her and attempted to physically remove her from the course, lunging at her and shouting for her to exit the race. Photographs of the incident became some of the most iconic images in sporting history.

Switzer’s run sparked international debate and accelerated the push for women’s inclusion in marathon events, helping lead to women being officially allowed to race the Boston Marathon in 1972.

When did running become a popular sport?

Running or jogging as we know it today, a form of exercise to keep fit or socialise, didn’t really begin until the 1960s.

Arthur Lydiard, a well renowned running coach from New Zealand and an advocate of running for better health, started the world’s first jogging club in Auckland.

Its popularity grew when Bill Bowerman, an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, ended up going for a jog with Arthur Lydiard while on a running trip in New Zealand.

On Bill’s return to the US, he introduced jogging at the University of Oregon. This expanded to the masses when he wrote a book called Jogging in 1966.

While jogging was becoming more popular, women were still fighting a battle to run competitively.

It wasn’t until 1984, 88 years after the first modern Olympic Games, that the women’s marathon was officially included in the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

This was a huge milestone in female running. America’s Joan Benoit won the first Olympic women’s marathon.

The evolution of running in the 21st century

Running has become one of the most accessible sports. Big events like the Abbot World Marathon majors (started in 2006) or our local ParkRun (the first ever ParkRun was in Bushy Park, London, in 2004) have emerged.

From an elite perspective, we have seen and continue to see incredible running performances.

In 2001, pacemakers (‘rabbits’) were introduced to help professional runners chase faster times, qualification standards or world records.

Pacemakers were a key part of the Breaking2 project, which saw Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge run the first-ever sub-two-hour marathon in 2019.

That same year, we also saw Paula Radcliffe’s long standing marathon world record broken by Brigid Kosgei. The Kenyan ran 2:14 at the Chicago Marathon. Her compatriot Ruth Chepnegitch has since lowered the mark to 2:09:54.

Technology now plays a huge role in our running, from training plans, our kit (including the best running shoes and those more pricey carbon plate running shoes), the all important running watches and being able to analyse physiological and biomechanical data to improve our running ability and efficiency.

It’s an exciting time to see where the sport will go next!

Looking for some help with your run training? Sign up to Runna and you can access personalised training plans from the likes of Steph Davis and pro triathlete Beth Potter. Plus, sign up via this link or use code 220T and you can get a two-week free trial.