run for the exercise

(simile, US, colloquial, politics) To run for political office with little chance of success.

(simile, US, colloquial) To run (in various senses) badly or not at all.

(figuratively, by extension, chiefly, informal) An attempt to circumvent a difficult problem by not confronting it directly.

(informal, idiomatic) To follow something through to completion or realization.

(informal, idiomatic) To take an incomplete or inadequate (plan, text, etc.) and develop it further, often with the implication of carelessness.