African runners, the latest to be picked up (4)
I believe the answer is:
gnus
'african runners' is the definition.
(type of antelope)
'latest to be picked up' is the wordplay.
'latest' becomes 'news' (the latest news).
'to be picked up' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'news' sounds like 'GNUS'.
'the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for gnus that I've seen before include "Strange guns for the beasts" , "South African antelopes" , "Gun (anag.)" , "Big game" , "Large African antelopes" .)