The History of the Run Out

Bring a friend to their first lacrosse game, and you’ll find yourself answering a dozen questions.

Why are some players carrying six-foot poles? Who can cross midfield and who cannot? Which team gets the ball when it goes out of bounds?

Most lacrosse fans can answer those questions in their sleep. But not many know why the rules are this way.

Ryan Danehy — the head coach at Mercer University — hasn’t missed a PLL Championship since the league’s inception. Every September, he’ll sit in the stands and answer those frequently asked questions. He’ll also share the story of the rules’ origins with nearby fans.

His favorite rule to explain: that possession after a missed shot is awarded to the team closest to the ball where and when it goes out of bounds. It’s a story he learned from his youth coach, Grant Whiteway II.

Whiteway has coached in Billerica, Mass., for decades. One of the most dominant Massachusetts Youth Lacrosse (MYL) programs, which feeds the town’s 2025 MIAA Division 2 state champion high school program. Billerica has produced several pros – including Danehy (BMHS ‘02), John Ortolani (BMHS ’05), Greg Melaugh (BMHS ‘09) and Boston Cannons short-stick defensive midfielder Jeff Trainor (BMHS ‘16). Each of them learned the rules – and the why behind the rules – from Whiteway.

“Grant would always talk about the Natives,” Danehy said. “He was always like, ‘Do you know why that rule is in place?’

In the traditional game, there were no out of bounds. Fields went for miles. Errant passes and missed shots had to be retrieved. When a shot went wide, a chase ensued. That race would last 10 yards, 100 yards or whatever it took until the players caught up to the shot. In theory, if you’re closest to where the ball goes out when it goes out in the modern game, you would’ve picked up the ground ball in a traditional game.

“I was like, ‘Holy [expletive] – that’s definitely the coolest rule in the game.’”

It’s the greatest rule — because it reminds us of a game without rules. Of the way the game was meant to be played. It’s a way to adjudicate an out-of-bounds play with minimal intervention from a rulebook or referee. By awarding possession to the player closest to the ball, the rule replicates the behavior of lacrosse played on a field without boundaries. It’s a way that we carry on that tradition.

“That is completely a remnant of the traditional game,” Dr. Thomas James Reed said. “Of no out of bounds. The goals being three miles across. Fifteen hundred versus 1,500. You’re going through the trees. You’re going around obstacles.”

Dr. Reed is a dual citizen of the United States and of the Oneida Nation. His Oneida name is “Lukwe’tiyó” (pronounced lah-gway-dee-oh), which translates to “He is a Good Man.” Last weekend, Reed returned home for the 51st Annual Oneida Pow Wow, where they played a traditional game. This year’s game (played as a series of “first to three wins” contests) ran for five hours with 15 players a side.

“Expansive” is the word that Dr. Reed uses to describe the fields on which traditional games are played. Anything – and anyone – in the area can be used as an advantage or for strategy.

“If the ball goes over next to a herd of people, players are running in there. The game continues,” Dr. Reed said. “There’s no stop in play – you just keep going.”

Dr. Reed’s team won 9-8. More important than the result was the effort that went into it.

“We’re taught that – win or lose – you’re playing as hard as you can for the Creator,” Reed said.

Effort is rarely as easy to see as it is when players are racing toward a missed shot. Run outs are celebrated as one of the greatest hustle plays in lacrosse. High school programs across the country give out game balls to players who back up missed shots. Maryland calls them “Terp plays.” The Utah Archers call them “‘What it takes’ plays.”

“Those are the things that win games,” Whiteway said.

Most missed shots are quickly backed up by the offense. Shots screaming 90 mph toward the end line don’t give time for a chase. But when the grass is wet or the shooter’s motion is altered, defenders have a chance to outhustle their opponent.

The few seconds between a lacrosse ball ringing off the pipe and it rolling out of bounds are among the most exciting in any sport. Offensive and defensive players swivel their heads to locate the trajectory of the ricochet, then race toward the “where and when” spot. A last-second arm extension – or dive – is often the difference between a fresh shot clock for the offense or a clear attempt for the defense.

Certain players have a sixth sense for anticipating when to take a chance. Maryland Whipsnakes defenseman Ajax Zappitello led the league in run outs as a rookie in 2024. One of the quickest defenders in the league, Zappitello often draws the opposing quarterback. His proximity to X gives him a few opportunities per game to beat his assignment to the end line – but he needs to pick his spots to avoid giving up a dunk.

“Especially in early offense. I think that’s where it’s most apparent,” Zappitello said. “You have a pole coming down – those guys aren’t shooting the ball a whole lot. It’s just playing your percentages. Like, ‘This guy is coming down, he’s got wide eyes, I’m gonna try to steal a possession here.’”

You can see Zappitello calculating those percentages in real-time. He swivels his hips as the shooter begins his windup – like a baserunner bound for second base as the pitcher begins his motion.

Zappitello and the Whipsnakes defense backed up 19.1% of opponent misses in 2024 — the best mark in the league, and the third-best for a team defense since 2019.

Run outs don’t go down in the stat sheet for the individual like a ground ball or a caused turnover would. But they have the same impact on the game.

“Teams are really good. It’s hard to get stops in this league,” Zappitello said. “How can I help my team out? [Expletive], I’ll chase a ball out 10 yards and dive for it if it gives us a chance of getting that thing back.”

The idea of playing hard – for the Creator, for the teammate next to you, for the neighbor who gave you your first-ever stick, for the parent who drove you to youth practices – is something every player feels, but isn’t always seen. Broadcasts rarely replay hustle. Effort often manifests in ways that prevent anything from occurring, like hustling to the hole to stop a fast break. It’s rare that hustle – and hustle alone – is the focus of the entire stadium.

But on the biggest stage, backed-up shots have swung title games.

Archers short-stick defensive midfielder Connor Maher won multiple chases in the 2023 Championship.

“Whether there’s 10 seconds left on the shot clock or they’re about to get a reset because it hit a pipe, any little thing you can do to gain an advantage,” Maher said. “There’s so much parity in this league and everyone is so good, that you’re never going to go out there and beat a team in every aspect of the game.”

There’s a science to stealing possessions from the offense. It comes down to understanding angles, percentages and opponent tendencies.

“A pretty underrated part of it is understanding the offense as a defenseman,” Maher said. “Most of the time when you get a run out, the offensive player has the advantage originally, as long as they’re balanced in their sets. You need to recognize and read the posture of a dodger and shooter.

“It’s a matter of reading a scout on a guy. There’s obviously guys in the league who prefer to take a shot more so than feed. And you can just kind of tell from playing so many years when a guy’s really about to shoot. And when that shot’s coming, you might as well go try to steal one.”

Maher’s preparation led to one of the most impactful run outs of all time. With just over a minute remaining in the 2023 Championship, clinging to a one-point lead, Maher took off toward the end line. The wet field slowed the ball down, turning a run out into a box out. Philadelphia Waterdogs attackman Michael Sowers tried to block Maher’s progress, but Maher dove headfirst toward the end line as the ball exited the field.

Dr. William George Beers, a dentist from Montreal, is credited with putting pen to paper to write the first set of lacrosse rules in 1860. His work marked the beginning of the modern game of lacrosse. Many of those rules modified the traditional game of lacrosse, and many of the modern game’s original rules have been modified since.

At least one thing remains: the race to the end line. The reward for hustle.

“To be spotted with mud from head to toe, was equal to a ribbon of the Legion of Honor,” Beers wrote. “A tough match was considered a cheap and capital way of draining mud puddles.”

“As long as you’re playing as hard as you can for the Creator,” Reed said, “that’s the most important part.”

While today’s field has its confines, the end line and sideline temporarily evaporate a couple dozen times per game. When a shooter winds up – and the offense is misshapen – the race begins.

“You’re a golden retriever,” Zappitello said. “Go get that ball.”