Cast members The original members of
Running Man are
Deng Chao,
Angelababy,
Li Chen,
Chen He,
Zheng Kai,
Wong Cho-lam, and
Wang Baoqiang. After season 1,
Wang Baoqiang left the program to focus on his career but returned on season 3, episode 10 as a guest. In season 2,
Bao Bei'er replaced
Wang Baoqiang but left at the end of the season as he was cast in
Stephen Chow's
Journey to the West II. Singer
Lu Han then replaced
Bao Bei'er from season 3 to season 6.
Dilraba Dilmurat replaced
Angelababy in season 5 due to Angelababy's pregnancy. Due to scheduling conflicts, Dilraba left before season 6. For season 7,
Deng Chao,
Chen He, and
Lu Han left due to scheduling conflicts, while
Wong Cho-Lam left to focus on his family.
Lucas from South Korean boy group
NCT and its Chinese unit
WayV,
Song Yuqi from South Korean girl group
I-dle, and actors
Zhu Yawen and
Wang Yanlin replaced them in the new season. For season 8,
Zhu Yawen and
Wang Yanlin left due to scheduling conflicts. Singer
Cai Xukun, actor/comedian
Guo Qilin, and actor joined as new members and replaced them. Lucas and Song Yuqi, who are both based in South Korea, were absent for the whole season due to
COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions. For the first Yellow River special season,
Lucas and
Yuqi were again absent.
Cai Xukun only participated in episodes 1-2 due to scheduling conflicts, while
Guo Qilin only participated in episodes 3-4 due to scheduling conflicts.
Zheng Kai was absent from episodes 1-2 due to the birth of his daughter. For Season 9,
Guo Qilin left the cast due to scheduling conflicts while
Lucas and
Yuqi rejoined the cast. Yuqi was absent from the first few episodes due to quarantine restrictions. For Season 10, it was announced that due to scheduling conflicts, Lucas would not be involved in filming, while
Yuqi left to focus on her career. Actress
Bai Lu, who joined during the second Yellow River special season, and singer
Zhou Shen joined the cast. Meanwhile,
Cai Xukun returned after a temporary hiatus in the second Yellow River season.
Zheng Kai was absent for the second half of the season, starting from episode 7, due to the birth of his second child. For the Common Prosperity special season,
Cai Xukun only participated in the first two journeys, which spanned the first two-and-a-half episodes.
Zhou Shen only participated in the first three journeys, which spanned episodes 1-4. For Season 11, it was announced that due to his upcoming tour,
Cai Xukun would not be participating.
Yuqi rejoined the cast, and
Fan Chengcheng from the Chinese boy group
NEXT also joined as a new cast member. For the Nature special season, it was announced that
Angelababy would not be participating, while from the Chinese boy group
TNT joined as a new cast member. This member setup was retained in Season 12. During the Ancient Tea Horse Road special season, both
Yuqi and
Zhou Shen only appeared in episodes 6-8 due to scheduling conflicts. Fan Chengcheng also did not participate in this season, as he was filming a television show at the time. For Season 13,
Li Chen,
Zheng Kai,
Yuqi, Sha Yi,
Bai Lu,
Zhou Shen,
Fan Chengcheng and Zhang Zhenyuan reunited and were joined by
Meng Ziyi and
Li Yunrui as Running Friends. The newest cast members had been guests during the previous Tea Horse Road Season and starred in the Chinese drama
Blossom. For The Heavenly Road special season,
Zhou Shen and
Meng Ziyi were unable to participate due to schedule conflicts. For Season 14,
Meng Ziyi and
Li Yunrui were promoted to full cast members.
Zhou Shen was unable to participate due to his tour and
Yuqi was absent for the first half of the season due to recovery from a recent head injury. }
Production staff The chief
production director (PD) is , who is often referred to on the show by his nickname "Yao PD". His voice is typically the one heard during interactions between cast members and the production crew. He has also at various times been featured on-camera during the show, such as during the last episode of Season 9, "Cast members vs. Production team", where he was nominated by the cast members to be one of the production team members to undergo the final "giant water bomb" punishment if the cast members were able to beat the production team, and episode 8 of Season 10, where he was pulled on-camera by one of the teams to be their extra helper during one of the games. The
announcer and provider of most of the
voice-overs is He Yannan (), who is a radio host for
Zhejiang Radio and Television Group and also provides voice-over for various other
Zhejiang Television programs, such as
The Voice of China.
Guests with the most appearances Some guests were occasionally featured or invited to the show during its run. The following list is of guests who appeared the most often as of 13 December 2025. ==List of episodes==