It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Harith (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would line up Sayyiduna Abdullah, Sayyiduna Ubaidullah, and several children from Banu Abbas, and then say to them: Whoever reaches me first will receive such and such a reward. So they would run towards him (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and then climb onto his blessed back and chest, and he (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) would kiss them and embrace them.

Narrated from Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raced with me, and I outran him. Then we stayed for a while, until when I gained some weight, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raced with me again, and this time he outran me. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This victory is in return for that previous one.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Salamah bin Akwa’ (may Allah be pleased with him), while he was relating the incident of returning from the expedition of Dhi Qarad to Madinah Munawwarah. He says: There was a distance between us and Madinah of about half a day’s journey. In that army, there was an Ansari man; no one could compete with him in running. During this journey, he began to call out: Is there anyone to compete? Is there anyone who will race me to Madinah? He repeated this several times. I was behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), meaning the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had made me his companion on the ride. I said to that man: Do you not respect any noble person? Do you not have any awe for a person of honor? He said: No, except for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: O Messenger of Allah! May my parents be sacrificed for you, allow me to go, I will compete with him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If you wish, then do so. Then I said to him: I am coming, now get down from your mount. He jumped down from his mount, and I also bent my legs and jumped down from the camel. The race began. For the first one or two hills, I avoided running fast so that my breath would not be cut off. Then I ran fast until I caught up with him and struck him between his shoulders and said: By Allah, I have surpassed you. He laughed in response and said: I thought so too, until we reached Madinah.