Speedrunning explained: racing the clock through your favourite games

Chapter one: a race against the clock, not each other

Most speedruns are solo efforts. A runner plays alone, a timer runs alongside, and the result goes on a public leaderboard where it is compared with everyone else's. Racing someone live does happen, but the classic speedrun is a personal battle with a stopwatch.

Runners talk about their PB (personal best) and the WR (world record). They break a run into splits, checkpoints that show whether they are ahead of or behind their best pace. The demo timer on this site shows how splits and their colour-coded differences work, using invented example times.

What makes speedrunning different from simply playing quickly is the rulebook. Each game's community decides exactly when the timer starts and stops, what counts as finishing and which techniques are allowed. Those rules turn a personal challenge into a fair comparison between people who may never meet.

Runs are almost always recorded, and most are streamed live. That recording is the evidence: without video, a time is just a claim. Volunteer moderators for each game check submissions before they appear on a leaderboard.

Leaderboards for thousands of games are hosted on community sites, the best known being speedrun.com, where each game has its own pages, rules and moderation team. Because the rules are written by each game's community, two leaderboards for similar games can work quite differently. Reading the rules page before you submit anything is the single most useful habit a new runner can build.

Chapter two: categories, glitches and the timer

One game can have dozens of leaderboards, because there are many ways to "finish" it. These are called categories.

• Any%: reach the end by any means, completing any percentage of the game.
• 100%: collect or complete everything the community defines as full completion.
• Glitchless: finish without exploiting bugs, or without specified ones.
• TAS: tool-assisted speedruns, made frame by frame with emulator tools. They are a separate art form, never mixed with real-time runs.

Timing is just as carefully defined: real time from a fixed start to a fixed end, or in-game time that pauses during loading screens. Run categories explained goes into the details, and timing and verification covers how leaderboards check a run before accepting it.

Chapter three: marathons that raise money for charity

Speedrunning's best-known public face is the charity marathon: a week or more of back-to-back runs, streamed live, with viewers donating throughout.

The largest is Games Done Quick. Its organisers describe it as a series of charity video game marathons featuring high-level gameplay by speedrunners, and say it has raised over $50 million for charity. Its partner charities include Doctors Without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Its winter event, Awesome Games Done Quick, has 2027 runner submissions open, with the games list due on 4 November 2026 and the schedule on 18 November 2026.

Marathons are a friendly way in for newcomers because commentators explain what is happening as the runner plays. Charity speedrun marathons covers how they work and lists events closer to home.

Chapter four: starting your first run

Speedrunning has a low barrier to entry. If you own a game and can record your screen, you can start today.

1. Pick a game you already know well and enjoy replaying.
2. Read that game's leaderboard rules and choose a category, often Any% for beginners.
3. Watch a few top runs to learn the route: the planned order of actions.
4. Use a split timer and record every attempt.
5. Practise sections, not just full runs, and compare your splits.

Expect to be slow at first. Even experienced runners spend most of their time practising individual sections rather than attempting full runs, and a new personal best after weeks of practice is a normal, satisfying result. Community chats for most games are welcoming to beginners who have read the rules and ask specific questions.

How to start speedrunning walks through each step, and what is speedrunning covers the history and culture.

Chapter five: a hobby for younger players too

Speedrunning suits many younger players: it rewards patience, practice and problem-solving, and many classic categories use family-friendly games. The main things for parents to think about are the same as for any online hobby: whether a child streams their attempts, who they talk to in community chats and how much time it takes up.

Platform rules matter here. Twitch's terms, for example, say its services are not available to under-13s and that 13 to 17-year-olds may only use it under a parent or guardian's supervision. Is speedrunning OK for kids? covers this calmly and in detail, and our glossary explains the jargon you will hear.