What is Speedrunning?

Speedrunning

IPA: /ˈspiːdɹʌnɪŋ/

Definition

Speedrunning is a compound of the words ‘speed’ and ‘running’, created to refer to the act of completing a video game as fast as possible. This has become somewhat of a sport for gamers with playthroughs posted online to be placed in a speedrun leaderboard for different games.

Speedrunning’s origins date back to the 1990s with records of online speedruns for games like Doom. When Doom was released in ’93, there was a feature to save gameplay recordings as a demo, with the files small enough to be easily shared with the limited capability of the internet at the time.

This eventually led to the creation of the first community dedicated to speedrunning in ’94 when Chris Norman began the first organized attempt to document the fastest demos in the ‘LMP Hall of Fame’. Leaderboards were created and speedrunning took off with many others continuing to build online communities for the sport, including Simon Widlake who hosted a website called Compet-N.

Unfortunately, there is no one to credit for coining the term as its first use is not documented, only that it was used online in the 90s and has grown in popularity since then. Nowadays, many more people participate in speedrunning, with streamers also showcasing their playthroughs. Popular games to speedrun include The Legend of Zelda, Dark Souls, Half-Life, Minecraft, and more.

Example Usage

"My friend got me into speedrunning. It’s addictive!"

"I love watching Minecraft speedruns - it’s so impressive how quickly they find and kill the Ender Dragon!"