diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index ea032bbd..d251568b 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -86,7 +86,14 @@ inputs:
   startup-timeout-seconds:
     description: >-
       Specifies the timeout in seconds to register the runner after the quiet period.
+  run-runner-as-service:
+    type: boolean
+    description: >-
+      Start the runner as a service rather than using ./run.sh as root.
     required: false
+  run-runner-as-user:
+    description: >-
+      Specify user under whom the runner service should run
 outputs:
   label:
     description: >-
diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
index a60ce0aa..3a53f8b0 100644
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -145013,21 +145013,23 @@ const config = __nccwpck_require__(4570);
 
 // User data scripts are run as the root user
 function buildUserDataScript(githubRegistrationToken, label) {
+  let userData;
   if (config.input.runnerHomeDir) {
     // If runner home directory is specified, we expect the actions-runner software (and dependencies)
     // to be pre-installed in the AMI, so we simply cd into that directory and then start the runner
-    return [
+    userData =  [
       '#!/bin/bash',
+      'exec > >(tee /var/log/user-data.log|logger -t user-data -s 2>/dev/console) 2>&1',
       `cd "${config.input.runnerHomeDir}"`,
       `echo "${config.input.preRunnerScript}" > pre-runner-script.sh`,
       'source pre-runner-script.sh',
       'export RUNNER_ALLOW_RUNASROOT=1',
       `./config.sh --url https://github.com/${config.githubContext.owner}/${config.githubContext.repo} --token ${githubRegistrationToken} --labels ${label}`,
-      './run.sh',
     ];
   } else {
-    return [
+    userData = [
       '#!/bin/bash',
+      'exec > >(tee /var/log/user-data.log|logger -t user-data -s 2>/dev/console) 2>&1',
       'mkdir actions-runner && cd actions-runner',
       `echo "${config.input.preRunnerScript}" > pre-runner-script.sh`,
       'source pre-runner-script.sh',
@@ -145036,9 +145038,18 @@ function buildUserDataScript(githubRegistrationToken, label) {
       'tar xzf ./actions-runner-linux-${RUNNER_ARCH}-2.313.0.tar.gz',
       'export RUNNER_ALLOW_RUNASROOT=1',
       `./config.sh --url https://github.com/${config.githubContext.owner}/${config.githubContext.repo} --token ${githubRegistrationToken} --labels ${label}`,
-      './run.sh',
     ];
   }
+  if (config.input.runAsUser) {
+    userData.push(`chown -R ${config.input.runAsUser} .`);
+  }
+  if (config.input.runAsService) {
+    userData.push(`./svc.sh install ${config.input.runAsUser || ''}`);
+    userData.push('./svc.sh start');
+  } else {
+    userData.push(`${config.input.runAsUser ? `su ${config.input.runAsUser} -c` : ''} ./run.sh`);
+  }
+  return userData;
 }
 
 function buildMarketOptions() {
@@ -145160,6 +145171,8 @@ class Config {
       startupRetryIntervalSeconds: core.getInput('startup-retry-interval-seconds'),
       startupTimeoutMinutes: core.getInput('startup-timeout-minutes'),
       subnetId: core.getInput('subnet-id'),
+      runAsService: core.getInput('run-runner-as-service') === 'true',
+      runAsUser: core.getInput('run-runner-as-user')
     };
 
     const tags = JSON.parse(core.getInput('aws-resource-tags'));
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e560f3bd..382c351e 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -27,4 +27,4 @@
     "dotenv": "^8.6.0",
     "eslint": "^7.32.0"
   }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/aws.js b/src/aws.js
index ac83394a..82375921 100644
--- a/src/aws.js
+++ b/src/aws.js
@@ -5,21 +5,23 @@ const config = require('./config');
 
 // User data scripts are run as the root user
 function buildUserDataScript(githubRegistrationToken, label) {
+  let userData;
   if (config.input.runnerHomeDir) {
     // If runner home directory is specified, we expect the actions-runner software (and dependencies)
     // to be pre-installed in the AMI, so we simply cd into that directory and then start the runner
-    return [
+    userData =  [
       '#!/bin/bash',
+      'exec > >(tee /var/log/user-data.log|logger -t user-data -s 2>/dev/console) 2>&1',
       `cd "${config.input.runnerHomeDir}"`,
       `echo "${config.input.preRunnerScript}" > pre-runner-script.sh`,
       'source pre-runner-script.sh',
       'export RUNNER_ALLOW_RUNASROOT=1',
       `./config.sh --url https://github.com/${config.githubContext.owner}/${config.githubContext.repo} --token ${githubRegistrationToken} --labels ${label}`,
-      './run.sh',
     ];
   } else {
-    return [
+    userData = [
       '#!/bin/bash',
+      'exec > >(tee /var/log/user-data.log|logger -t user-data -s 2>/dev/console) 2>&1',
       'mkdir actions-runner && cd actions-runner',
       `echo "${config.input.preRunnerScript}" > pre-runner-script.sh`,
       'source pre-runner-script.sh',
@@ -28,9 +30,18 @@ function buildUserDataScript(githubRegistrationToken, label) {
       'tar xzf ./actions-runner-linux-${RUNNER_ARCH}-2.313.0.tar.gz',
       'export RUNNER_ALLOW_RUNASROOT=1',
       `./config.sh --url https://github.com/${config.githubContext.owner}/${config.githubContext.repo} --token ${githubRegistrationToken} --labels ${label}`,
-      './run.sh',
     ];
   }
+  if (config.input.runAsUser) {
+    userData.push(`chown -R ${config.input.runAsUser} .`);
+  }
+  if (config.input.runAsService) {
+    userData.push(`./svc.sh install ${config.input.runAsUser || ''}`);
+    userData.push('./svc.sh start');
+  } else {
+    userData.push(`${config.input.runAsUser ? `su ${config.input.runAsUser} -c` : ''} ./run.sh`);
+  }
+  return userData;
 }
 
 function buildMarketOptions() {
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index 53dc7f07..59f1d17b 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ class Config {
       startupRetryIntervalSeconds: core.getInput('startup-retry-interval-seconds'),
       startupTimeoutMinutes: core.getInput('startup-timeout-minutes'),
       subnetId: core.getInput('subnet-id'),
+      runAsService: core.getInput('run-runner-as-service') === 'true',
+      runAsUser: core.getInput('run-runner-as-user')
     };
 
     const tags = JSON.parse(core.getInput('aws-resource-tags'));