Take up sewing wrote:
Age old question.
A "runner" is typically unsuccessful from a competitive standpoint and inherently embarrassed that the activity he partakes in is soft enough for middle-aged or overweight, hence his need for distinction.
Think you got that backwards, the definition there is more for "jogger."
But first things first, the word hobby should probably be taken out of the equation, because unless you are a professional, on a college scholarship, or aspiring to be one of those, then you are more or less running as a form of recreation. A hobby.
So once again, it comes down to the age old question of runner vs. jogger. This comes down to ability, dedication to the sport, attitude, and motivation.
So, even if you train 40 miles a week (fairly dedicated) but can only do 9 minute miles, or 8, and even into the 7s, you're pretty much a jogger. Put it this way, and average decent runnner (say 15s to 17s for 5K) will usually run sub 8 for their easy (jog) days, and the 18-19 min 5K runners might be in the 8-8:30/mile range. That's jogging. If these paces are your race paces for a fairly short distance like the 5K then you are more or less a jogger, no matter how much you work at it, how hard you try, or how badass you feel out there. (likewise, a 15:10 5K runner may win every local 5K and be competitive at state and regional level competitions, but that's still not elite).
That covers ability, dedication, and motivation more or less. What about attitude?
Attitude is where part of the schism occurs, and it's already been mentioned several times in this thread. The jogger's approach is to have fun, get a participant medal, sometimes an age group award (many races are really slow these days), and have a social event. Runners also enjoy these things, but they want more. On top of that, they want to maximize performance (plus they have the ability to run faster than at jogging pace).
At the same time, there can be runners with a lot of ability who chose not to be competitive. Greyhound lean types, who can easily knock out a 18 min 5K as a tempo run but they generally don't put in much time for training (maybe a few times a week). They would be sort of in the high ability end of the joggers. On the other hand, you might find a 21 min 5K runner (say female or male age grouper) who does work at it pretty hard, putting in at least 30-40 miles a week, interval training, tempo runs, longer runs. They're at the lower end of ability as a runner, but definitely take a more competitive and goal oriented approach. They're runners.
But as a closer, we all started out as joggers, and we'll go out as joggers (or quit altogether).