Motivation

These are the World's Most Popular Running Songs

If you ever donned your running shoes and hit the trail, road or gym for an invigorating run, it’s likely you’ll have been listening to music as you run. Not only can the beat help to power your pace and drive you forward, but the lyrics can also help motivate you to keep going, even at times where you may feel like giving up.

And it’s not just anecdotal, there’s scientific proof that music can aid a run. A 2015 study found that listening to music was directly linked to improvements in performance and accelerated recovery for those running 5km.

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DISCOVERING THE PERFECT RUNNING PLAYLIST

This means that the creation of the perfect running playlist becomes an important feature of most runs - setting yourself up with a bank of great tunes at the right speed means you’ll be more likely to enjoy your workout.

While everyone has their own tastes, we were keen to find out which songs are the most popular on running playlists across the world. We dug into Spotify data and analysed over 30,000 tracks and 750 playlists that included the words ‘running’, ‘jogging’ and ‘treadmill’ to see which tracks were featured the most. And this is what we discovered...

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1. TOP 10 RUNNING SONGS

With its inspirational lyrics and driving beat, it’s little surprise that Britney Spears’ Work B**ch from 2013 has topped the chart as the most popular running song - it sets a decent running pace of around 3.5 miles an hour and offers some motivational quotes to enjoy as you go. In fact, inspirational lyrics are a theme throughout the top 10, with Eye of the Tiger (the oldest song on the top 10 list), Titanium by Sia & David Guetta, Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Lose Yourself by Eminem all featuring. The latter is one of the fastest songs on the list, tied with The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights at a speedy 171 bpm; if you run to the beat of these songs you could be covering a speed of around five miles an hour.

1. Work B**ch – Britney Spears - 128bpm
2. Blinding Lights – The Weeknd - 171 bpm
3. Roses (Imanbek Remix) – SAINt JHN - 122 bpm
4. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor - 109 bpm
5. Titanium (feat. Sia) – David Guetta - 126bpm
6. Can’t Hold Us – (feat. Ray Dalton) – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - 146 bpm
7. CAN’T STOP THE FEELING! – Justin Timberlake - 113 bpm
8. Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars) – Mark Ronson - 115 bpm
9. This Is What You Came For (feat. Rihanna) – Calvin Harris - 124 bpm
10. Lose Yourself – Eminem - 171 bpm

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2. TOP 10 RUNNING ARTISTS

It’s a battle between EDM, hip hop and pop when it comes to the most popular artists listened to by runners, with electronic music topping the bill thanks to our list’s number one, Calvin Harris. Other popular dance artists featured include David Guetta and Avicii, while hip hop fans seem to favour the music of Eminem, Drake and Kanye West. Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Ed Sheeran are the biggest pop artists listened to in running playlists.

1. Calvin Harris
2. Eminem
3. David Guetta
4. Drake
5. Kanye West
6. Lady Gaga
7. Rihanna
8. Avicii
9. Ed Sheeran
10. Pitbull

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3. TOP 10 DISNEY RUNNING SONGS

We were intrigued to spot several songs from popular Disney soundtracks featured on running playlists, so we dug a little deeper to find which were the 10 most popular. Interestingly, When Will My Life Begin from the 2010 Tangled movie is the most popular choice, and at 108bpm perhaps serves as the perfect warm up track. Moana is the most popular movie choice, with How Far I’ll Go and You’re Welcome both included on the top Disney running tracks. For those seeking some motivation, the rousing tracks Let It Go from Frozen, Try Everything from Zootropolis, Go The Distance from Hercules, Life is a Highway from Cars and I’ll Make A Man Out of You from Mulan all offer inspiring lyrics that are ideal for keeping runners pounding the pavements.

1. When Will My Life Begin? - Mandy Moore - Tangled
2. Let It Go – Idina Menzel - Frozen
3. How Far I'll Go – Auli’i Cravalho - Moana
4. You're Welcome – Dwayne Johnson - Moana
5. Circle of Life – Carmen Twillie - The Lion King
6. Try Everything – Shakira - Zootopia
7. Go The Distance – Roger Bart - Hercules
8. Life is a Highway – Rascal Flatts - Cars
9. Be Our Guest – Angela Lansbury - Beauty & The Beast
10. I'll Make a Man Out of You – Donny Osmond – Mulan

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4. TOP 10 RUNNING SONGS FROM MUSICALS

Another slightly unexpected feature from running playlists were songs from musicals - perhaps not so unexpected when you think that musical theatre thrives off rousing choruses and stimulating lyrics, as well as some storylines to get the imagination flowing. Hamilton the Musical appears to be the most popular offering, with four songs from the soundtrack featuring on the top 10 list and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s My Shot even taking the top spot. Dear Evan Hansen and The Greatest Showman both have two songs in the top 10 list, with songs from Hairspray the Musical and Six The Musical also featuring.

1. My Shot – Lin-Manuel Miranda - Hamilton
2. Waving Through A Window – Ben Platt – Dear Evan Hansen
3. Alexander Hamilton – Leslie Odom Jr. - Hamilton
4. The Schuyler Sisters - Renée Elise Goldsberry – Hamilton
5. Satisfied - Renée Elise Goldsberry – Hamilton
6. Six – Six The Musical
7. You Can’t Stop The Beat – Elijah Kelley – Hairspray The Musical
8. The Greatest Show – Hugh Jackman – The Greatest Showman
9. This Is Me -Keala Settle – The Greatest Showman
10. Sincerely, Me – Mike Faist – Dear Evan Hansen

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Methodology: All results are based on Spotify data correct as of 13th August 2020. Most popular artists and songs were calculated by scraping the song data of playlists containing the words ‘running’, ‘jogging’ and ‘treadmill’. For Disney data, playlists contained the words ‘Disney run’. For musicals, playlists included ‘musical run’.

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And for more inspirational tips to become stronger, better and happier, then check out our Motivation category. Because it’s no fun standing still.