I'd leave the landing wood - no runner. My parents have a beautiful wool oriental runner going up their stairs. The men who installed it, did a stinky job. It was impossible to make the turns, and they spliced it really weird. I have been after my parents for years to take the landing part off.

Well you could dead end the runner into the bottom of the last,(top), riser. Or you could take a piece of molding, half round, etc, and cut a dado into the back. One quarter of the width of it and run the runner under it. It of course would be attached to the top nose of the stairs. If you go the molding route make sure that it is LEVEL with the landing, otherwise major tripping hazard.

Thank you for responding and your advice. I think you are right. The carpenter is very talented at what he does: custom cabinets, staircases, beams, building and rehabbing all manner of furniture, custom doors, great trim work, etc; but he is not a wood floor installer. I'm not hiring a GC for this project. So in order to get the timing right, tell me if this is the right sequence: carpenter demos the carpet, railings, balustrades, post, etc, and gets really accurate measurements of what's there now. Makes and installs the wood treads, risers, landings, and removes the wood that is currently going around the edges of the top landing. When he's done with all that I'll have the woodfloor installer do their work. Then the carpenter will come back and finish the posts, railing and balustrades, and some trim work. Then painters come to paint and stain everything. The carpenter is pretty flexible, so I don't think he will mind having a break in the project for the wood floor people to come. And we've worked together very well before, so I don't think he will be insulted that I feel more comfortable hiring a dedicated wood floor installer. Detail question: For the 2 steps going up from the landing to the gameroom, should the carpeter do these steps before the woodfloor person comes or after? I was thinking after, so that the wood floor runs all the way to that step and the riser sits on top of that. Thanks again for responding; this is very helpful.

Thanks everyone - all of your insights make sense and I appreciate the input! Stair runners definitely aren’t as straightforward as wall to wall carpet or area rugs. @Cynthia - Great point; I’ll ask about the waste as I’ve got plenty of ideas for where and how to use extra pieces. @Anna (I’m also an Anna #teampalindrome) - I picked the Silver color so it’s not as quite dark as one you shared, and the Preston Mills version seems to have a lot more white spots to break up any “solid” dark lines. This pic shows the color/style I’m aiming for…