Left work early, primarily to run (4)
I believe the answer is:
lope
'run' is the definition.
(lope is a kind of run)
'left work early primarily' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'work' becomes 'op' (abbreviation for opus).
'primarily' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'early' is 'e'.
'l'+'op'+'e'='LOPE'
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for lope that I've seen before include "Stride along" , "Run with a long stride" , "Walk with long strides" , "Run slowly with pole" , "Take long, bouncy strides" .)