(idiomatic) Of a candidate: potential or likely; worthy of consideration.
Even if I were looking for a boyfriend, I don't think he would be in the running.
(idiomatic) Of a competitor or contestant: still eligible and able to win.
My favourite singer wasn't eliminated, so she's still in the running!
And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. William Shakespeare
One should write not unskillfully in the running hand, be able to sing in a pleasing voice and keep good time to music; and lastly, a man should not refuse a little wine when it is pressed upon him. Yoshida Kenkō
Modern capitalism has as little use for liberum arbitrium [undisciplined] persons as laborers as it has for the businessman fully without scruples in the running of his company. Max Weber
But thankfully, my first album, 'Wide Screen,' was sort of a critics' darling - everyone raved about it, but no one bought it. They only manufactured 10,000 copies; I wasn't even in the running for failure! Rupert Holmes
Honestly, before I settled on a name for the Bon Iver project in general, Chigliak was in the running for what I was going to name the band. Justin Vernon
Mergers are like marriages. They are the bringing together of two individuals. If you wouldn't marry someone for the 'operational efficiencies' they offer in the running of a household, then why would you combine two companies with unique cultures and identities for that reason? Simon Sinek