Hi Karl,
Runs in your gloss coat?

Where abouts on the surface being glossed or underneath? If underneath this is solved by masking off and then removing the masking tape once the resin has gone green. Hey presto no runs. If on top then something is not right, i've never had a run in a gloss or hot coat on the surface being done.
Also personally the roughest grade i use on a hot coat is 80 grit, but usually only ever start with 120 then 240/400/600 and finally 800.
For the purposes of performance there is no need to go any further thatn 800 grit. The noticable gains in drag by going to 1000 or even 1500 are so small its not even worth goiong there.
If im polishing a gloss coat then i only go as far as 600 as the cutting compund does the rest.
And yes sanding is a ball ache, but its one you'd better get used to!
I may at some point invest in a sander but the thought of taking 120 grit on a power tool to a surfboard fills me with dread!
KS