Pay people running competition? (4,4)

I believe the answer is:

foot race

'running competition?' is the definition.
(term for a race)

'pay people' is the wordplay.
'pay' becomes 'foot' (footing is a kind of paying).
'people' becomes 'race' (people can mean a national group or race).
'foot'+'race'='FOOT-RACE'

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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