Adult allowed in these short runners (8)
I believe the answer is:
athletes
'runners' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'adult allowed in these short' is the wordplay.
'adult' becomes 'a' (abbreviation).
'allowed' becomes 'let' (to let is to allow or permit).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'these' with its final letter removed is 'thes'.
'let' placed into 'thes' is 'thletes'.
'a'+'thletes'='ATHLETES'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for athletes that I've seen before include "Sports contestants" , "Derval O'Rourke and Usain Bolt, say" , "Sporty types" , "Steal the strangely fit people" , "Oddely, the least of it is they're fit" .)