by 
Whether you’re running outside or just hitting the treadmill, good music can often make the difference between a rave run and a blown goal. That’s why we’re putting together 90-minute playlists each month chock-full of songs with enough of a beat to keep you moving. For even more tunes, check out our list of the best running songs.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! When “best of the year” lists flood every app and website you come across. Best films of the year. Best books of the year. Best celebrity breakups of the year. Heck, even Strava sends you a recap of your 2022 runs.
A year is a long time, and 2022 has been a chaotic 365 days. Remember Wordle? Remember Kim Kardashian wearing Marilyn Monroe’s dress? Remember Robert Pattinson as Batman? A lot has happened.
This year has also brought us endless amounts of new products: New clothes, new food, new running belts. Runner’s World has already published the 2022 Gear of the Year Awards highlighting all the best running equipment (watches, shoes, sports bras, and so on) that arrived in 2022, and there is sure to be plenty more end-of-year content coming up.
Two other yearly treats are Spotify Wrapped and Billboard’s Hot 100 of the Year. Both let the world know which songs have been on repeat. It’s fun—and often slightly humiliating—to realize just which song you’ve streamed for 93 hours since January. It’s also an exciting challenge to try to remember which song got enough radio play back in June to earn Song of the Year.
Since this is my last Runner’s World playlist for 2022, I thought there would be no better way to celebrate our running accomplishments than with a Best of 2022 running playlist. Look back at a year full of early morning jogs, evening speed work sessions, and weekend races while listening to great tracks from every genre. From Lizzo and Doja Cat to Justin Bieber and Jack Harlow, this playlist has all the upbeat hits of the year in one place. Press play and relive 2022. You will, after all, be running up that road, running up that hill, running up that building (if you know what I mean).
Happy 2022! See you back here on January 1, 2023 for a whole new year of running.
Matthew Huff is a freelance writer and runner, and he is the author of MARATHONER: What to Expect When Training for and Running a Marathon, published by Rizzoli Publications. His writing has appeared in Runner's World and BuzzFeed among others, and he is the cohost of “P.S. You’re Wrong: A Pop Culture Podcast.” Originally from Michigan, he now lives and runs in New York City, where he is pursuing a career as an expert chicken tender taster.
