As you’ve probably experienced, the perfect song at just the right moment can give you that extra burst of adrenaline and motivation you need on a training run. Here’s fifty songs to do just that:
Pop Favorites
- “All About That Bass” – Meghan Trainor
- “Shake It Off” – Taylor Swift
- “Fancy” – Iggy Azalea
- “Don’t” – Ed Sheeran
- “Happy” – Pharrell Williams
- “Let It Go” – Idina Menzel
- “Turn Down For What” – DJ Snake and Lil’ Jon
- “Dark House” – Katy Perry
- “Bang Bang” – Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj
- “Summer” – Calvin Harris
25 Years Ago
- “Good Vibrations” – Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch
- “Opposites Attract” – Paula Abdul
- “Vogue” – Madonna
- “Ice Ice Baby” – Vanilla Ice
- “Gonna Make You Sweat” – C+C Music Factory
- “Baby Got Back” – Sir Mix-A-Lot
- “Pump Up The Jam” – Technotronic
- “Wild, Wild West” – The Escape Club
- “Push It” – Salt-N-Pepa
- “Rhythm Nation” – Janet Jackson
Classic Rock
- “Runnin’ Down A Dream” – Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
- “Born To Run” – Bruce Springsteen
- “Eye Of The Tiger” – Survivor
- “Crazy Train” – Ozzy Osbourne
- “Welcome To The Jungle” – Guns n’ Roses
- “Jump” – Van Halen
- “Back In Black” – AC/DC
- “We Didn’t Start The Fire” – Billy Joel
- “Rock You Like A Hurricane” – Scorpions
- “We Will Rock You” – Queen
Country Motivation
- “Gunpowder and Lead” – Miranda Lambert
- “Days Go By” – Keith Urban
- “Blown Away” – Carrie Underwood
- “I’ve Been Everywhere” – Johnny Cash
- “5-1-5-0” – Dierks Bentley
- “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” – Charlie Daniels Band
- “A Little Bit Of Life” – Craig Morgan
- “That Don’t Impress Me Much” – Shania Twain
- “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” – Luke Bryan
- “All Jacked Up” – Gretchen Wilson
Something Different
- “Even If I’m Loud Doesn’t Mean I’m Talking To You” – Tove Styrke
- “Crazy” – Kat Dahlia
- “Deceptacon” – Le Tigre
- “Odessa” – Caribou
- “Run Right Back” – The Black Keys
- “Tessellate” – Tokyo Police Club
- “Price Of Gas” – Bloc Party
- “Youth Without Youth” – Metric
- “Lines” – Big Boi
- “Mountain Sound” – Of Monsters And Men
What songs would you add to the list?
“Distance” by Cake. Duh
Definitely love the list here and how you broke it out by type. I’m partial to country and 90’s nostalgia songs when I run. I have 36 more to add to your list here – http://runthemoney.com/best-half-marathon-playlist
Thanks for sharing,
Dave
We Are Not Alone (Karla DeVito)
Neutron Dance (The Pointer Sisters)
Two songs that should be on every runners playlist are Heading Out On The Highway by Judas Priest and All Fired Up by Pat Benatar. Both have a great beat and are very motivating on long runs. Clock Strikes Ten by Cheap Trick off Live at Budokan is also great, especially the ending.
I love running to maroon 5, especially moves like jagar. Fun upbeat song.
Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners
Mostly all Social Distortion – and definitely alot of Reverand Horton Heat
Green Day – Holiday
I love battle music like The Battle from Gladiator. Does anyone have other similar music to recommend?
“Rock and Roll” – Led Zepplin
“You Shook Me” – AC/DC
Both for energy more than tempo.
Paul Simon has lots of good running tunes:
– Obvious Child
– Call Me Al
– Born at the Right Time
– Graceland
– I Know What I Know
– The Boy in the Bubble
– Cecilia
– Me & Julio Down by the School Yard
Other favorites:
– Cheerleader
– Faith
– Freedom
– Hella Good
– Hey Mama
– I got a Feeling
– Lips are Movin
– M!ssundaztoon
– Mony Mony
– My Sharona
– Pon de Replay
– Pump It
– Raise Your Glass
– Rock & Roll All Nite
– Roll to Me
– Stitches
– #1 (Nelly)
– 4 Minuets
– 18 Wheeler
Anything with a BPM of 190 because that’s my cadence!
Some good ones:
“I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” – Joan Jett
“When I Come Around” – Green Day
“First Date” – blink-182
“Fighter” – Christina Aguilera
“Still Waiting” – Sum 41
“Single Ladies” – Beyoncé
“Party in the U.S.A.” – Miley Cyrus
“All You Wanted” & “Everywhere” – Michelle Branch
It’s Tricky! -Run DMC
Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It by Will Smith
“Kick A Little”
Little Texas – For the country section
“Train Kept a Rollin’
Aerosmith – Classic rock
My Body – Young the Giant
Sunshine highway by dropkick murphys. Bad for my body by Deap Vally. Paranoid by Black Sabbath. Devo’s Whip It. I love playing with fire & Youre too possessive by The Runaways. Mony mony and Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol, all are great to help me pick up the pace!
sisters are doing it for themselves Aretha and the eurythmics
Light em up – fallout boy
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner – IRON MAIDEN
Rod Stewart and The Faces……Losing You…impossible to slow down toward the end, you will find the kick that you don’t have
What it is. By Mark Knopfler. Will make you run or drive faster!
The Runner by Manfred Man. The only song written for competitive runners.
Theme from Hawaii 5-0
Run Shoes Runnin’ by the Kings
Greyhound – Swedish House Mafia
Wake me up- Avicii
Mr Sunshine, Electric Light Orchestra
A few of those songs I think are good and will add to my playlist. But I have a bunch of other songs that might give some runners a little boost. “Lifeline” and “Scars” from Papa Roach. “Livin on a Prayer” and “It’s My Life” from Bon Jovi. “Animal I’ve Become” from 3 Days Grace. “Out of my Way” and “Remedy” from Seether.
Eminem-“Lose Yourself”, it’s the first song I play for any race I do; “Til I Collaspe ” is good too; U2- “where the streets have no name”; Van Halen-“right now”; I love Sarah McLachlan remixes- sweet surrender & possession— Just to name a few! Great list!
I would like to ad Chariots of Fire to the list of songs that will kick your run to another gear
“Last Ride of the Day” – Nightwish
If you going to start with the Stones, then any run can begin with “Start Me Up”
And Jackson Browne’s “Running On Empty” is fittting for the finish line.
And for recent pop choices? “Blurred Lines” – c’mon everybody get up – you know you want it
UPTOWN FUNK!!! I’ll take that for the full 13.1
Those were not very good picks for running. I would say 1-2 songs in each category were half decent running songs but the rest are rather lack luster pics.
Sympathy for the Devil, and She’s so Cold, and maybe a few other Stones tunes, along with some Phish.
I bought this on a whim when I was recommended 9 and 13 (Hard Work and c-130 Rolling Down the Strip) by someone else. Hard Work has made a comeback recently in several commercials during sporting events. I ran a marathon recently with these in the playlist – really I should have just had the two of them over and over they are more effective then songs – for the last mile push in fact I played each of them multiple times and skipped all the other songs.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/50-running-cadences-u.s.-marines/id543089934
“Sooner or Later” by The English Beat
I get a chuckle from these lines:
Sooner or later
Your legs give way, you hit the ground.
Save it for later
Don’t run away and let me down.
Don’t Stop Believin’, of course! Great list!
Uff, so many. “I just don’t know what to do with myself” by the White Stripes is great for slow+tempo runs. “Run Lola Run” soundtrack defo makes me go faster! or anything by the Faithless.