What Is Speedrunning?

Speedrunning is the practice of completing a video game — or a specific portion of it — as fast as possible. Runners use a combination of deep game knowledge, precise mechanical execution, and sometimes intentional glitches to shave seconds or even hours off completion times. It's equal parts sport, science, and performance art.

The Early Days: Pre-Internet Records

Speedrunning existed before the internet, though it wasn't yet called that. Players in the late 1980s and early 1990s would compete among friend groups to finish games quickly, or time themselves against personal bests. The competitive element was local and mostly undocumented.

One of the earliest communities to formalize records was the Doom community in the early 1990s, where players shared demo files called "LMPs" to prove their completion times. This community created what is arguably the first organized speedrunning infrastructure.

Speeddemosarchive and the Birth of an Online Community

In the early 2000s, Speed Demos Archive (SDA) became the central hub for verified speedrun records. Runners submitted video evidence of their runs, which were reviewed and archived. This gave the hobby legitimacy and a shared vocabulary — categories like "Any%" (finish the game as fast as possible, any means necessary) and "100%" (complete all objectives) were defined here.

Twitch and the Streaming Revolution

The explosion of live streaming in the early 2010s, particularly on Twitch, transformed speedrunning from a niche archive hobby into live entertainment. Watching skilled players dismantle games in real time — explaining techniques, reacting to unexpected outcomes, interacting with chat — turned speedrunning into a spectator sport.

Speedrun.com launched in 2014 as a community-driven leaderboard system and quickly became the definitive home for organized records across thousands of games.

Games Done Quick: The Charity Phenomenon

No discussion of speedrunning culture is complete without mentioning Games Done Quick (GDQ). This bi-annual charity marathon event broadcasts 168+ hours of speedruns live, raising millions of dollars for organizations like Doctors Without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The events attract hundreds of thousands of simultaneous viewers and have become a cornerstone of gaming culture.

Notable Speedrunning Achievements

  • Super Mario 64 16-star: One of the most competitive and technically demanding categories, with world records contested by fractions of a second.
  • Ocarina of Time any%: Famous for its use of major glitches to complete the game in under 10 minutes.
  • Minecraft any% RSG: Relies heavily on RNG manipulation and item routing — one of the most watched speedrunning categories today.
  • Celeste: A precision platformer where the speedrunning community and the game's developer have an unusually warm relationship.

Why People Speedrun

Motivations vary widely across the community:

  • Competition: Chasing world records or personal bests is intensely motivating.
  • Mastery: Speedrunning forces an incredibly deep understanding of how a game works.
  • Community: The communities around popular games are tight-knit, collaborative, and often highly welcoming to newcomers.
  • Creative expression: Finding a new skip or glitch is celebrated like a scientific discovery.

Getting Started

If you want to try speedrunning, pick a game you love and check its speedrun.com page. Start by watching runs in your chosen category to learn the route, then practice. Tools like LiveSplit (a free timer application) make it easy to track your attempts. The community is almost universally welcoming to newcomers — just jump in.