Presumably it was before he hooked up with Jon in the early 80's, if only because there aren't any musical or lyrical differences between the Intruder and BJ versions. Which would mean that Jon didn't write or compose it at all, just got half credit from Karak when he got his record deal.

Well, it turns out that Karak is still very much alive and kicking, complete with a web site containing New York and Nashville contact info, albums that Runaway has appeared on, and a couple of Soundcloud MP3s -- including Runaway!