The best running songs ever – 8 hours of music to keep you moving

Regular readers will know by now I love to run. But here’s something you may not know: I am a bit of an obsessive music nerd (some might say snob). When we put together a democratically compiled happy playlist last year, I have to admit, some of those entries made me want to cry. I mean, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

But if there is one thing we know about musical taste, it’s that it’s totally subjective. As a nation we can’t even agree on whether it’s hilarious or hideous to include Taylor Swift in the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown. (If you want my opinion, buy me a drink and we can chat about it for hours – let’s just say I think the correct action was taken.)

But what we can all agree on is that when your enthusiasm for exercise is flagging, some pumping beats, or a cruisy sing-along, can give you the extra pep in your step you need to keep those legs pumping. I love losing myself in Happy Musicland, singing along, gesticulating wildly and generally making a dick of myself in public. I have even been known to sing loudly during actual races. It keeps me going and it’s something to focus on that isn’t the fact that my lungs are on fire and my arse is wobbling.

So here, I lay at your feet, 8 hours of running/workout music. The idea is that you can copy this bad boy and delete all the stuff you don’t like (which will be NOTHING because it’s awesome) and still have loads of running songs left for your kick-arse playlist. As for me, I love all of these songs – some are more suited to a quick 5km dash, and some are more laid back melodies that I love to listen to on longer runs. I generally just hit ‘Shuffle’ at the start of my run and then see where the list takes me. Because it’s so huge, I don’t get sick of anything.

Of course, this is not just for running. You could use it for other workouts, or just to do housework to. It’s a mix of rock, dance and pop, with some naff retro flashbacks thrown in for good measure. I hope you love at least some of it!

What do you think of the list? What song/s would you include?