diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 52409e7..91bab02 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -688,6 +688,7 @@ Inside the `isTask` branch, `task.args` is typed as the moroutine's argument tup
 All examples require Node v24+ and can be run directly, e.g. `node examples/primes/main.ts`.
 
 - [`examples/primes`](examples/primes) - CPU-bound prime checking on the global runtime
+- [`examples/custom-runtime`](examples/custom-runtime) - register a custom global runtime; bare, explicit, and pinned dispatch
 - [`examples/non-blocking`](examples/non-blocking) - main thread stays responsive during heavy computation
 - [`examples/parallel-batch`](examples/parallel-batch) - sequential vs parallel batch processing
 - [`examples/atomics`](examples/atomics) - shared atomic counter across workers
diff --git a/examples/custom-runtime/app-runtime.ts b/examples/custom-runtime/app-runtime.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f66449f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/custom-runtime/app-runtime.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { define, roundRobin } from '../../src/index.ts';
+import type { RuntimeDefinition } from '../../src/index.ts';
+
+// The app's runtime definition: a define()'d config in its own side-effect-free
+// module, so it has a stable module identity. Registered from main.ts before
+// the first dispatch.
+export default define(import.meta, {
+  size: 2,
+  balance: roundRobin(),
+}) satisfies RuntimeDefinition;
diff --git a/examples/custom-runtime/main.ts b/examples/custom-runtime/main.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86500fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/custom-runtime/main.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+// Register a custom global runtime, then dispatch to it three ways:
+// bare await, runtime.run(), and pinned via assign().
+// Requires Node v24+.
+//
+// Run: node examples/custom-runtime/main.ts
+
+import { registerRuntime, runtime, assign } from '../../src/index.ts';
+import appRuntime from './app-runtime.ts';
+import { whoAmI, fib } from './work.ts';
+
+// Must precede the first dispatch — the runtime boots lazily with this
+// definition (2 workers, round-robin) instead of the default.
+registerRuntime(appRuntime);
+
+// Bare await — boots the runtime on first use.
+console.log(await whoAmI('bare await'));
+console.log(`runtime booted with ${runtime.workers.length} workers`);
+
+// Explicit dispatch, including batches.
+const [a, b] = await runtime.run([fib(30), fib(31)]);
+console.log(`fib(30) = ${a}, fib(31) = ${b}`);
+
+// Round-robin placement: consecutive dispatches alternate workers.
+console.log(await runtime.run(whoAmI('first')));
+console.log(await runtime.run(whoAmI('second')));
+
+// Pinned dispatch: assign() targets a specific runtime worker.
+console.log(await runtime.run(assign(runtime.workers[0], whoAmI('pinned'))));
+console.log(await runtime.run(assign(runtime.workers[0], whoAmI('pinned again'))));
+
+// No shutdown() needed — idle runtime workers don't keep the process alive.
diff --git a/examples/custom-runtime/work.ts b/examples/custom-runtime/work.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b85eed8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/custom-runtime/work.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import { threadId } from 'node:worker_threads';
+import { mo } from '../../src/index.ts';
+
+export const whoAmI = mo(import.meta, (label: string): string => {
+  return `${label} ran on thread ${threadId}`;
+});
+
+export const fib = mo(import.meta, (n: number): number => {
+  return n < 2 ? n : fibSync(n);
+});
+
+function fibSync(n: number): number {
+  let a = 0;
+  let b = 1;
+  for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) [a, b] = [b, a + b];
+  return a;
+}