Running Man () is a South Korean variety show, formerly part of SBS' Good Sunday lineup. It first aired on July 11, 2010. It is the longest-running Korean variety show.
Running Man was originally classified as an "urban action variety"; a genre of variety shows in an urban environment. The MCs and guests were to complete missions at a landmark to win the race. The show has since shifted to a more familiar reality-variety show concept focused on games. It has garnered attention as being the comeback program for Yoo Jae-suk, the main MC of the program, after leaving Good Sundays Family Outing in February 2010.
The show has become popular in other parts of Asia, and has gained online popularity among Hallyu fans, having been fansubbed into various languages, such as English, Persian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, Burmese, Arabic, Russian, and Turkish. The show has made it to the list of Business Insiders 20 TV Shows of 2016.
Since April 2017, Running Man is airing as the first part of Good Sunday at 4:50 pm KST and competing against KBS2's The Return of Superman and MBC's King of Mask Singer. Running Man previously aired at 6:25 pm KST on Sundays, as the second part of Good Sunday, competing against KBS2's 2 Days & 1 Night. The show celebrated its 11th anniversary on July 11, 2021, with 563 episodes, surpassing MBC's Infinite Challenge for the longest entertainment program in South Korea.
On December 20, 2024, it was revealed that Running Man will become one of SBS' Programs to be aired on Netflix as a part of partnership collaboration agreements.
Format
Current As of episode 48, the members have taken part in a series of missions to become the winner(s) at the end of the race. Missions form the basis of Running Man as members try to avoid punishment in earlier episodes or to win prizes. Multiple missions are presented in each episode, with the highlight of Running Man being race missions. The format of the show has veered away from the "race mission + others" to "one continuous race + missions".
Previous Ep(s) Airdate(s) Notes 1 July 11, 2010 The MCs and guests were locked in a landmark during closed hours and were required to leave before opening hours. In the first episode, they were divided into two teams and raced to find the codes hidden within the landmark that were required to unlock the main doors. With a total of 5 numbers, after one was found, a game was played to determine which team would start first in the next race, and the losing team received a punishment while the other team was given a head start. After all the numbers had been found by either of the teams, they approached the main door and entered the code which they believed was correct. The exact team was allowed to leave the landmark while the losing team was required to complete a punishment inside the landmark. 2–5 July 18, 2010August 8, 2010 The second episode to the fifth episode, both teams competed to find golden pigs filled with money that was hidden within the landmark and participated in games in the attempt to win more money. At the end of each episode, the team with the most money was declared the winner and was allowed to leave the landmark while the losing team received a punishment. The money collected by the teams was donated in the winning team's honor. Viewers could vote on the official Running Man homepage on who they believed would be the winning team, and a lucky audience who guessed correctly was allowed to have his/her name included in the donation. 6–10 August 15, 2010September 12, 2010 Episodes 6 to 10, a consistent game format was used where both teams competed to obtain the most Running Man Balls (shortened to Running Balls in future episodes). Running Balls were awarded to the team that found a ball, and were also given to individuals who won a game, who received a Running Ball of their team's color (blue or red). Each of the games and races was referred to as missions, and were as follows: Mission 1 featured games related to the landmark. Previously, the Photo Zone Game was played at every landmark. Mission 2 was the race mission. Mission 3 was Leisure Time for a Cup of Tea. This mission was discontinued after episode ten due to controversies. Mission 4 was Morning Team Sports. This mission aired in full only in episode six and only highlights were shown in episode seven due to time constraints. At the end of each episode, the Running Man Balls collected throughout the night were placed into a lottery machine, and the color of the first ball ejected determined the winning team for the evening. The losing team was required to commute home using public transportation while undertaking an embarrassing punishment. 11–25 September 19, 2010January 9, 2011 As of the eleventh episode, the Running Man members and guests were no longer split into two main teams except for during the race mission, with smaller teams or individual game-play being used during the other missions. Everyone individually earned Running Balls throughout the missions and the balls selected during the lottery machine segment represented the individuals who were the winners for the night. The format of missions was also changed: Mission 1 was Challenge 1 vs. X. Mission 2 was Find the Thief. From episode 15 this was changed to different games related to the landmark. Mission 3 was the race mission, Bells Hide and Seek. As of the eighteenth episode, only those who had earned no Running Balls at all throughout the night were the ones to be punished. 26–43 January 16, 2011May 15, 2011 Beginning with the twenty-sixth episode, the race mission, Bells Hide and Seek, was replaced with a Find the Guests mission. The MCs and guests were locked inside a landmark and were required to earn Running Balls for a chance to escape punishment. Through a series of missions, the Running Man members were divided into teams and/or individually earned Running Balls. The format for the missions in episodes 26 to 43 were: Mission 1 was the race mission, Find the Guests. From episodes 39 to 41, it was Catch the Running Man. Mission 2 featured games related to the landmark. Mission 3 was the One Chance challenge, which was played in episodes 27 to 31. If there were many members with no Running Balls, they were automatically punished and no lottery was conducted. Additionally, if the members succeeded in the One Chance mission, they were all relieved of the punishment regardless of how many Running Balls each of them possessed. As of episode 38 and onwards, there were some episodes which included spy/spies. These spies could either be part of the cast, guest, or both. 44–47 May 22, 2011June 12, 2011 From episodes 44 to 47, staff (of the landmark location involved in the game) voted for who they believed would be the overall winner of the games and became supporters of that member/team. Teams were decided by the winner of the race mission, who received the first Running Ball, and the two teams then competed for more Running Balls throughout missions spread over two days (two episodes). The format for the missions was as follows: Mission 1 was the race mission, Find the Guests. Mission 2 featured missions related to the staff of the landmark. Mission 3 was a second race mission. Mission 4 featured missions related to the landmark. The team with the most Running Balls was declared the winner and their supporters received a bonus from their boss. 119, 131, 144 November 11, 2012; February 3, 2013; May 5, 2013 In these episodes, the members would arrive at the starting venue separately. An announcer would announce that "The XX Running Man is entering the arena". This announcement would include the guests for the day. After all the guest were introduced, the announcer would immediately announce their first mission. The race would officially begin after the first mission ends. The winner of the first mission would be given an advantage to his/her team in the race. The format for the missions are as follows: Mission 1 was the opening mission: Name Tag Elimination Mission 2 onwards would follow the usual format of the show: one long race with continuous missions during the race.
Personnel Cast members
Current Yoo Jae-suk (Episode 1–present; 2010–present) Haha (Episode 1–present; 2010–present) Jee Seok-jin (Episode 1–present; 2010–present) Kim Jong-kook (Episode 1–present; 2010–present) Song Ji-hyo (Episode 7–present; 2010–present) Yang Se-chan (Episode 346–present; 2017–present) Ji Ye-eun (Episode 733–present; 2024–present) Rental Kang Hoon (Episode 706–714; 2024) Choi Daniel (Episode 747–781; 2025) Former Lizzy (Episode 18–25; 2010–2011) Song Joong-ki (Episode 1–41; 2010–2011) Gary (Episode 1–324; 2010–2016) Lee Kwang-soo (Episode 1–559; 2010–2021) Jeon So-min (Episode 346–679; 2017–2023)
Timeline The original cast members consists of Yoo Jae-suk, Gary, Haha, Jee Seok-jin, Kim Jong-kook, Lee Kwang-soo and Song Joong-ki. Song Ji-hyo was originally a guest for the second (episodes 2–3) and third landmarks (episodes 4–5). She officially joined the program in the fourth landmark (episode 6), but was unable to attend until the fifth landmark (episode 7). In April 2011, Song Joong-ki recorded his last episode (episode 41) in May, leaving the program to focus on his acting career. He returned in episode 66 as a guest after almost half a year and later made cameo appearances in several episodes. After School's Lizzy was initially a guest for episodes 13 and 14, later joining in episode 18 as an official member. However, she left the show after episode 25 due to schedule conflicts with her group activities. She later returned as a guest in episode 292, 5 years since her last appearance. On October 25, 2016, Gary announced his departure from the show in November to focus on his music career after being with Running Man for 6 years, but later returned as a guest a week after his final recording (episode 325), and again in January 2017 (episode 336).
On April 3, 2017, it was confirmed through various media outlets that Running Man would add actress Jeon So-min and comedian Yang Se-chan to the cast. On April 27, 2021, Lee Kwang-soo announced his departure to focus on his treatment and recovery from a car accident, becoming the third original cast member to leave the show. On October 23, 2023, Jeon So-min decided to leave Running Man six years after joining the show to focus on her acting career, but later returned as a guest in episode 736, 14 months since her last appearance, and again in episode 774.
On May 14, 2024, SBS announced that actor Kang Hoon was added to the Running Man cast as the show's first rental member after his recent appearance as a guest on episode 701. On July 8, Kang Hoon recorded his last episode as a rental member (episode 715) before the Olympic season, with SBS announcing that they had discussed about his future appearance schedule after the Olympics. He later returned as a guest in episode 734, 5 months since his last appearance. On December 23, it was announced that Ji Ye-eun became an official Running Man member starting from episode 733 after her role as a rental member since episode 711. On March 24, 2025, it was announced that actor Choi Daniel joined the Running Man as the show's third rental member after his guest appearance in episode 742. On August 26, it was announced by CP Entertainment that Ji Ye-eun had temporarily paused her activities due to her health issues. On October 20, her agency announced that she had returned to the filming episode of Running Man that was aired on November 2. On December 14, 2025, Choi Daniel recorded his last episode as a rental member (episode 781).
Production staff