Avoids runners about to make a poor start (5)
I believe the answer is:
skips
'to make a poor start' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'avoids runners about' is the wordplay.
'avoids' becomes 'p' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'runners' becomes 'skis' (ski is a kind of runner).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'p' placed inside 'skis' is 'SKIPS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for skips that I've seen before include "Large containers for rubbish" , "Waste containers" .)