Whether you’re running outside or just How Marathoner Emma Bates Owns Her Mornings, The Best Hip-Hop Songs for Summer Runs 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.
The Best Songs to Add to Your Playlist this Month Emma Bates, they think of her as Emma Bates, the runner. After all, the 31-year-old distance runner has built up a pretty impressive resume that includes 2nd place at the 2021 Chicago Marathon and 1st place at the 2018 USA Women’s Marathon Championships, not to mention four top 10 placements in World Marathon Majors.
What most people probably don’t know about Bates is she’s a music fiend with varying tastes from pop to classic rock. That’s why she’s the resident playlist creator for the Asics running team and the maker of this month’s Runner’s World’s playlist.
Bates’s love of music started at an early age.
“Growing up, we always listened to music,” she said. “My family would sit around our campfire in the backyard, and my dad would be blasting the music from the speakers in our living room to the backyard.” As a little girl, she learned to play the piano and guitar, and performed in her high school band, but now she “more just appreciates the artistry behind it.”
Discover the energizing tracks that motivate this champion headphones was Bates’s constant companion. “In between when I was running for the Boston Athletic Association, and where I am now with Asics, I was training by myself and what got me through most runs was music,” says the 12-time All-American, and 2014 NCAA 10,000 meter champion who ran for Boise State University.
This is when Bates’s eclectic taste in music came in handy. “Through my workouts, I would try to make playlists that would get me either really pumped up or really relaxed,” she said.
Nowadays, Bates doesn’t need music on her runs because she runs with her team. But she still has plenty of opportunities to compile and listen to her favorite songs. “When we’re in the gym, we can blast music together,” she said. “I like to put playlists together to introduce music that they wouldn’t normally listen to.”
Best Running Shoes 2025? “I really like classic rock. So my favorite band of all time is Led Zeppelin. That was a really big part of my life with my dad.”
The Best 120 BPM Songs to Add to Your Run Playlist? “I would say Roselia, the Spanish artist, and then Stromae. He’s a French artist. And Aurora. She’s a Norwegian artist. So I kind of go all over the place, all over the map.”
While her next destination is the Chicago Marathon, she’s sending Runner’s World readers on a world tour of their own. Listen below to the global playlist she’s curated. Who knows, maybe it’ll spur you to a great performance in Chicago (or your next race) as well.
good music can often make the difference between a Best Running Shoes 2025, 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.
