Warming up before running?

Hi all,    What kind of warming up do you do before you run?  Do you just stretch or do you also do some light running to warm up?  I've heard you shouldn't stretch too much before.  Is your routine different for your training runs vs. if you're doing a race?  Thanks for any input!  Our 10K group is doing 5 miles tomorrow night - my most to date!

I don't stretch before, but I do walk for 5 minutes before.  Of course, I run indoors on a treadmill.  Linn

Well I wouldnt call it stretching. Its kinda more like wiggling around looking like I know what I'm doing.

But to answer your question, I would say no, I dont stretch..

First of all, congrats to continuing with the group after a rocky start. I actually do a pretty full stretching routine before I run.  It is all static stretching.  No bouncing or crazy movements.  I make sure to do a lot of stretches for the hips and IT band which have become more thght during runs.  Typically, the before run stretch takes about 10 minutes if tis a race day and 5 minutes for a training run.  After the run I will do a solid 15 minutes and really hit everything below the waist.  - Hips (outside and flexors), Quads, Hams, Calfs, Butt, Low Back.   Since you are doing 5 miles, I would forgo a warmup run but for the shorter distances on race day I definitely do a 5-10 minute warmup with some striders which are like 75% sprints where you get to speed and let your momentum take you the rest of the way without working very hard. Right now I am going out for 5 and I will light stretch and go.  I will take it easy for the first 1/2 mile before pushing it to tempo pace.  The last 1/2 mile will be a slow cool down. I hope this made sence.

I stretch for 5 minutes or so before starting.   Most of the time I keep a slowish pace for the first 5 - 10 minutes.  After I do whatever training I'm doing I'll cool down with a slow easy run for 10 minutes or so.