forerunner

Definitions

• A runner at the front or ahead.
• (sport) By extension, a non-competitor who leads out the competitors on to the circuit, or who runs/rides the course prior to competitor trials, usually testing or checking the way.
• A precursor or harbinger, a warning ahead.
• A forebear, an ancestor, a predecessor.
• (philately) A postage stamp used in the time before a region or area issues stamps of its own.