diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/gates.yml b/.gitea/workflows/gates.yml
index 64fbc4c..2b08f89 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/gates.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/gates.yml
@@ -104,7 +104,11 @@ jobs:
         run: zig build test-aarch64 -fqemu
 
   frontend:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    # The light runner, a second act_runner at capacity 1 that advertises only
+    # this label. This job peaks around 355 MB (tsc), well inside that runner's
+    # 1536Mi dind limit, and it runs no docker command — so it overlaps the
+    # heavy runner's zig and image work instead of queueing behind it.
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-light
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@11d5960a326750d5838078e36cf38b85af677262 # v4.4.0