Claim: The Long Run is a recording.

`` The Long Run '' is a song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey and recorded by the Eagles . The sound of the song is viewed as a tribute to the Stax / Memphis rhythm and blues sound . It was the title track of their album The Long Run and was released as a single in November 1979 . It reached No. 8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in early 1980 . It was the second of three singles released from The Long Run album , preceded by `` Heartache Tonight , '' which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1979 , and followed by `` I Ca n't Tell You Why , '' which also reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 , in the spring of 1980 .   The song was featured on the TV show WKRP in Cincinnati on the episode `` The Doctor 's Daughter '' . Specifically , Dr. Johnny Fever decides to air the recording and his programming director , Andy Travis is hysterical with delight that his popular DJ is playing a hit record for once .   In his book The Heart of Rock & Soul : The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made the `` The Long Run '' , music critic Dave Marsh calls the song a complete ripoff of the 1972 R&B record `` Tryin ' to Live My Life Without You '' .