Running zombies?

So, I just read a couple of years old interview with Dan O'Bannon where one of the subjects was the running zombie. Zack Snyder, the director of the remake of Dawn of the dead, supposedly claimed in an interview that he invented the running zombie, and O'Bannon was slightly peeved with that (only slightly though, when he is really pissed, it's usually pretty obvious) since he felt that his Return of the living dead was the first with that.

Now, the horrorfans out there might remember a fun little flick called La invasión de los zombies atómicos aka Incubo sulla città contaminata aka City of the walking dead aka Nightmare city by Umberto Lenzi. Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that the creatures arent supposed to be zombies, but the movie is generally placed in the italian zombie canon and a couple of the alternative titles suggests that it is, in fact, a zombiemovie.

So, did Umberto Lenzi invent the running zombie, or are there earlier examples? I seem to recall an american 70s movie called The Child which had pretty lively undead but it's been a while since I saw it. Any other examples?