''Runner's World'' is a global magazine and website for runners of all abilities. It has additionally developed experiential formats, including a digital membership program, called Runner's World+. It is published by Hearst in

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in and the county seat of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River and the Delawa ...

and was formerly published by Rodale, Inc. Outside the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the magazine is published in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

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Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

History

''Runner's World'' was originally launched in 1966 by Bob Anderson as a

mimeograph A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator or stencil machine) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a co ...

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...

''Distance Running News, ''and Anderson published it by himself for several years from his home in

Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city in and the county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County, Kansas, Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big ...

. Runner and writer

Hal Higdon Hal Higdon (born June 17, 1931) is an American writer and runner known for his training plans. He is the author of 34 books, including the best-selling ''Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide''. He has worked as a freelance writer since 1959, and ...

had been writing for the magazine since the beginning (2nd edition). In 1969, Anderson changed the name of the magazine to ''Runner's World''. He brought on

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and very occasional flute player. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day an ...

as chief editor and moved the editorial offices, now named

World Publications World Publications (Anderson World Books, Inc., Anderson World Publications, Anderson World, or Bob Anderson Publications) was a book and magazine publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, a ...

, to

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

. ''Runner's World'' thrived during the 1970s "

running boom The running boom of the 1970s occurred in high- and middle-income countries. It was particularly pronounced in the United States and occurred in other countries including the United Kingdom and other European countries, Australia and New Zealand. ...

", even in the face of competition from the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

–based magazine, ''The Runner''. ;Purchase by Rodale Press In the early 1980s, Bob Anderson sold a good portion of his publications, including ''Runner's World''. Some of Anderson's books went out of print while others were distributed by

Macmillan Publishing Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

Robert Rodale Robert David Rodale (Cohen) (March 27, 1930 – September 20, 1990) was an American publisher who was president and chief executive officer of Rodale, Inc., a company founded in 1930 by his father J. I. Rodale in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. Rodale w ...

Rodale, Inc. Rodale, Inc. (), was an American publisher of health and wellness magazines, books, and digital properties headquartered in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, with a satellite office in New York City. The company was founded in 1930. In 2017, it was acquired ...

, purchased ''Runner's World'' in 1985 and the editorial offices moved to Rodale's base in

Emmaus, Pennsylvania Emmaus ( ) is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 11,652. Emmaus is located in the Lehigh Valley, the third-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania and 68th-largest metrop ...

did not move to Emmaus, and stepped down as editor, though he remained associated with the magazine until 2003.

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

bought the running log, which was published under the ''Runner's World'' name for decades after the sale. In 1986, Rodale bought ''The Runner'', and merged the two magazines, keeping the ''Runner's World'' name and some writers, including

Amby Burfoot Ambrose Joel Burfoot (born August 19, 1946) is an American former marathoner whose peak competitive years came in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was the winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon. After retiring from competition, he became a running ...

who became the editor (a post he held until 2003). ''Runner's World'' remained strong through the so-called "second running boom" in the late 1990s. In 2004, the magazine had a full redesign. Since then, the magazine has won several awards including being ranked No. 1 on '' Adweek's'' Hot List, No. 6 on ''

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...

s "A-List"; been recognized for having the "Creative Team of the Year", and most notably has been nominated three times for

National Magazine Awards The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

. In February 2007, Rodale acquired ''Running Times'' magazine and website and combined both brands in 2015. Hearst acquired Rodale in 2018. ''Runner's World'' offices were moved from

, to

. That new office included a testing lab, called the "Test Zone," which also allow visitors to see the Runner's World and

Bicycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...

product tests. ;Awards In 2019, the American Society of Journalist and Authors awarded writer Michelle Hamilton's article "Saudi Women Will Run the Kingdom" with the awards for outstanding fitness & sports article. The year following, Christine Yu was awarded by the same organization for her Runner's World article "Women Deserve to Run Without Fear." In 2021, Mitchell S. Jackson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for his ''Runner's World'' articl
''Twelve Minutes and a Life''
"a deeply affecting account of the

murder of Ahmaud Arbery On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was murdered during a racially motivated Hate crime laws in the United States, hate crime while jogging in Satilla Shores, a neighborhood near Brunswick, Georgia, Brunswick in Glynn ...

that combined vivid writing, thorough reporting and personal experience to shed light on systemic racism in America." The article also won a

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

and a Jenkins Medal for Excellence in

Sportswriting Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

, award by

Moody College of Communication The Moody College of Communication is the communication college at The University of Texas at Austin. The Moody College of Communication operates out of the Jesse H. Jones Communication Complex and the Dealey Center for New Media, which opened i ...

, that year. In 2022, Wufei Yu & Will Ford's article from the November/December 2021 Issue, "172 Runners Started This Ultramarathon. 21 Of Them Never Came Back," was awarded the Excellence in Sports Reporting award by the

Asian American Journalists Association The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in Washington, D.C., with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia. The current president is ...

, as well as the award for of Writing Best Colour Piece by Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive's (the International Sports Press Association) sports media awards.

International circulation

Since the early 1990s, ''Runner's World'' has expanded outside the United States, currently with 18 international editions. The first was a

edition wholly owned by NatMag Rodale, a joint venture between

and The Hearst Corporation in the UK. As of December 2024, there 10 international editions of ''Runner's World'', aside from the flagship edition in the U.S.:

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and the UK. All are published either as joint ventures or through licensing arrangements with publishers in those countries. Editors in each country have access to editorial content from the U.S. edition, but also publish their own original content with local flavor.

Runners-in-Chief

Editors-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

at Runner's World are called Runners-in-Chief. * Bob Anderson (1966 - 1985) *

(1970 - 1977) * Robert Rodale (1985 - 1987) * Ambrose "Amby" Burfoot (1985 - 2003) * David Willey (2003 - 2017) * Betty Wong Ortiz (2017 - 2018) * Jeff Dengate (2018–Present)

Book publishing

* Dagny Scott Barrios, ''Runner's World Complete Book of Women’s Running'', 2007, *

, ''Runner's world complete book of running'', 2010, * ''The great

Grete Waitz Grete Waitz (, 1 October 195319 April 2011) was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, at the New York City Marathon, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. Waitz ...

'', 2011, * Jennifer Van Allen, ''Runner’s World Big Book of Marathon and Half-Marathon Training'', 2012, *Amby Burfoot, ''Runner's World training journal'', 2012, * Scot Douglas, ''The runner's world complete guide to minimalism and barefoot running'', 2013, * Jennifer Van Allen, ''Runner’s World Big Book of Running for Beginners'', 2014, *

Bart Yasso Bart Yasso, born in December 1955 in Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania, the "mayor of running", is Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a global magazine and website for runners of all abilities. It has additionally developed experiential formats, in ...

and Erin Strout, ''Runner's World race everything'', 2017, * Meghan Kita, ''How to make yourself poop and 999 other tips all runners should know'', 2018, * Bill Pierce, Scott Murr, ''Runner’s World Run Less Faster'', 2021, Cookbooks * Joanna Sayago Golub, The Runner's world cookbook, 2013, * Heather Mayer Irvine, ''The Runner's World vegetarian cookbook'', 2018,

References

External links