"Run" is a song by Northern Irish–Scottish alternative rock band Snow Patrol, released in the United Kingdom on 26 February 2004 as the second single of their third album, Final Straw (2003).

A music video, directed by Paul Gorewas, was released to promote the song; in it, band members use distress flares and motorcycles at night.

Her performance received critical and commercial success, topping the charts of Austria, Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom, where it became the fastest-selling download ever, selling 69,244 copies in just two days.

[8] Adrienne Day wrote for Spin that "Run" includes "guitar riffs",[6] whilst Joe Bosso described the song as "dark and moody".

[10] Irish writer Peter Murphy called it a "strange hybrid", explaining it is "a lighter-waving anthem drenched in private grieving".

[11] Kevin Forest Moreau considered "Run" to has "plaintive lyrics, rigorous strumming, sweeping strings and a hook that yanks without reservation for the heartstrings of adolescent girls everywhere.

Claire Simpson highlighted the track,[13] Adrienne Day called the song "brilliant",[6] and Jacky McCarthy, from Billboard, described it as "memorable", due to the band displays "a lush melody, soaring chorus and [Lightbody's] brooding vocals.

"[14] Andrew Beaujon added it to Spin's playlist of "songs you need to know", and wrote it is "the year's most fantastically overblown Britpop power ballad.

[17] John Murphy considered its "slow burning delights" replaced the piano chords of Coldplay's "Clocks", which, according to him, started to sound "annoying".

[18] Marc Vera of Entertainment Weekly magazine described "Run"'s lyrics as "haunting of romantic distress", and its guitars as "walls [that] should put Coldplay on notice.

"[19] Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork Media also compared "Run" to Coldplay and he wrote it "exists solely for its uplifting, if oddly fatalistic, chorus ... which will surely have concertgoers raising their lighters during the inevitable second-encore singalong."

He continued saying it is an "unapologetically anthemic" in which "[Jacknife] Lee throws in some schmaltzy strings at the climax that practically cry out to score the big smooch in some teen-friendly romantic comedy.

[12] Whilst an Uncut magazine reviewer marked it as a highlight,[21] Devon Powers wrote for PopMatters it is "easy and lush",[22] and Paul Nolan considered it "the perfect modern hymn to broken relationships".

"[24] Christian Carey of Junkmedia.org called it, along with another song of Final Straw ("Grazed Knees"), a "symphonic pop gem", and the "most memorable" track of the album.

[25] Steven Gozdecki of Neumu.net called it "centerpiece" of the album and a "brilliantly entrancing" tune, and also noted it is "the song that Coldplay dream of making".

Gozdecki complemented with "[it is] a moving ballad that benefits from the absence of that other band's dreadful, Dave Matthews-esque voice and omnipresent electric piano.

[10] It was directed by Paul Gore, produced by Suzie Morton through the company Flynn Productions, photographed by Ben Smithard, and edited by Tony Kearns, and it premiered in October 2003.

[51] During filming, people from the area called the police, because they noticed several red distress flares were used at night, which were those Snow Patrol members used.

[52] "Run" appeared in various television programs and films including One Tree Hill,[53] Life as We Know It,[54] Cold Case,[55] Rescue Me,[56] Doctor Who Confidential,[57] Jericho,[58] Mad Dogs[59] and Bates Motel.

"Run" was recorded at Britannia Row, located in London, England, and The Diving Bell Lounge Studios, in Glasgow, Scotland.

"[81] The day after Lewis's version appeared on the Live Lounge, it was requested over 8,000 times in the first 2 minutes of The Chris Moyles Show.

[84] It was believed that Lewis's record label, Sony, wanted to shift the sales towards the reissue of Spirit,[86] which did return the album to number one.

Snow Patrol's rendering is dark and moody, while Leona Lewis's is big-time pop", and quoted Gary Lightbody as saying "That's what you want a song to do ...

"[92] Newsround highly praised Lewis' cover version, stating that "the full gospel choir and orchestra easily match Leona's powerful pipes – and remind listeners why the song made people cry when she first performed it on Radio 1's Live Lounge last year".

[93] "Run" received three stars out of five from Digital Spy, who said that Lewis "wrings every last drop of emotion out of Gary Lightbody's lyrics, channeling her inner Mariah for some almighty warbling at the crescendo".

[102][103] The single spent a second week at number one in the United Kingdom,[104] before 2008's The X Factor winner Alexandra Burke charted with "Hallelujah".

[118] Wiley wrote on her website that although it was a "great" and "emotional" performance which caused members of the audience to cry, she felt that Snow Patrol's vocal could not be beaten.

[118] Lewis performed her studio recorded version of the song for the first time live on the fifth series of The X Factor (UK) on 15 November 2008.

[125] She was a special guest performer at the eighth series semi-finals of German singing competition Popstars: Du & Ich in December 2009, where she sang the song.

[133] Similar to her performance at Hackney Weekend, Lewis was accompanied on stage by The Big C Choir, which consists of people who have had or have cancer.