The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - running n.

1) operation, management, direction: Who attends to the everyday running of the business while you are away? 2 competition, contest, meet, tournament, race, match; event, game: If he is found to take steroids, he'll be out of the running. --adj. 3) continuous, on-going, continual, perpetual, sustained, constant, uninterrupted, ceaseless, unceasing: Where do they get the energy to keep up a running argument on the same silly subject?