diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/controller.go b/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/controller.go
index b8c161856c8..2920f5fe808 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/controller.go
@@ -40,10 +40,6 @@ import (
 	"knative.dev/pkg/tracker"
 )
 
-const (
-	resyncPeriod = 10 * time.Hour
-)
-
 // NewController instantiates a new controller.Impl from knative.dev/pkg/controller
 func NewController(namespace string, images pipeline.Images) func(context.Context, configmap.Watcher) *controller.Impl {
 	return func(ctx context.Context, cmw configmap.Watcher) *controller.Impl {
@@ -103,6 +99,8 @@ func NewController(namespace string, images pipeline.Images) func(context.Contex
 		c.configStore = config.NewStore(images, c.Logger.Named("config-store"))
 		c.configStore.WatchConfigs(cmw)
 
+		go metrics.ReportRunningPipelineRuns(ctx, pipelineRunInformer.Lister())
+
 		return impl
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/metrics.go b/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/metrics.go
index 776ef82762a..b91fe1af236 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/metrics.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/metrics.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"go.opencensus.io/tag"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
+	"knative.dev/pkg/logging"
 	"knative.dev/pkg/metrics"
 )
 
@@ -56,6 +57,8 @@ type Recorder struct {
 	pipelineRun tag.Key
 	namespace   tag.Key
 	status      tag.Key
+
+	ReportingPeriod time.Duration
 }
 
 // NewRecorder creates a new metrics recorder instance
@@ -63,6 +66,9 @@ type Recorder struct {
 func NewRecorder() (*Recorder, error) {
 	r := &Recorder{
 		initialized: true,
+
+		// Default to 30s intervals.
+		ReportingPeriod: 30 * time.Second,
 	}
 
 	pipeline, err := tag.NewKey("pipeline")
@@ -184,3 +190,22 @@ func (r *Recorder) RunningPipelineRuns(lister listers.PipelineRunLister) error {
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+// ReportRunningPipelineRuns invokes RunningPipelineRuns on our configured PeriodSeconds
+// until the context is cancelled.
+func (r *Recorder) ReportRunningPipelineRuns(ctx context.Context, lister listers.PipelineRunLister) {
+	logger := logging.FromContext(ctx)
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			// When the context is cancelled, stop reporting.
+			return
+
+		case <-time.After(r.ReportingPeriod):
+			// Every 30s surface a metric for the number of running pipelines.
+			if err := r.RunningPipelineRuns(lister); err != nil {
+				logger.Warnf("Failed to log the metrics : %v", err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/pipelinerun.go b/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/pipelinerun.go
index ea7c0ded648..a49147740ca 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/pipelinerun.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/pipelinerun/pipelinerun.go
@@ -230,14 +230,12 @@ func (c *Reconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, key string) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	var updated bool
 	if !equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(original.Status, pr.Status) {
 		if _, err := c.updateStatus(pr); err != nil {
 			c.Logger.Warn("Failed to update PipelineRun status", zap.Error(err))
 			c.Recorder.Event(pr, corev1.EventTypeWarning, eventReasonFailed, "PipelineRun failed to update")
 			return multierror.Append(merr, err)
 		}
-		updated = true
 	}
 
 	// When we update the status only, we use updateStatus to minimize the chances of
@@ -250,16 +248,6 @@ func (c *Reconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, key string) error {
 			c.Recorder.Event(pr, corev1.EventTypeWarning, eventReasonFailed, "PipelineRun failed to update labels/annotations")
 			return multierror.Append(merr, err)
 		}
-		updated = true
-	}
-
-	if updated {
-		go func(metrics *Recorder) {
-			err := metrics.RunningPipelineRuns(c.pipelineRunLister)
-			if err != nil {
-				c.Logger.Warnf("Failed to log the metrics : %v", err)
-			}
-		}(c.metrics)
 	}
 
 	return merr.ErrorOrNil()
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/controller.go b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/controller.go
index 7c9bf6caf4e..f84d38e8002 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/controller.go
@@ -106,6 +106,9 @@ func NewController(namespace string, images pipeline.Images) func(context.Contex
 
 		c.configStore = config.NewStore(c.Logger.Named("config-store"))
 		c.configStore.WatchConfigs(cmw)
+
+		go metrics.ReportRunningTaskRuns(ctx, taskRunInformer.Lister())
+
 		return impl
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/metrics.go b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/metrics.go
index 681c686424b..3ce9a0e97f4 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/metrics.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/metrics.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
+	"knative.dev/pkg/logging"
 	"knative.dev/pkg/metrics"
 )
 
@@ -69,6 +70,8 @@ type Recorder struct {
 	pipeline    tag.Key
 	pipelineRun tag.Key
 	pod         tag.Key
+
+	ReportingPeriod time.Duration
 }
 
 // NewRecorder creates a new metrics recorder instance
@@ -76,6 +79,9 @@ type Recorder struct {
 func NewRecorder() (*Recorder, error) {
 	r := &Recorder{
 		initialized: true,
+
+		// Default to reporting metrics every 30s.
+		ReportingPeriod: 30 * time.Second,
 	}
 
 	task, err := tag.NewKey("task")
@@ -250,6 +256,25 @@ func (r *Recorder) RunningTaskRuns(lister listers.TaskRunLister) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// ReportRunningTaskRuns invokes RunningTaskRuns on our configured PeriodSeconds
+// until the context is cancelled.
+func (r *Recorder) ReportRunningTaskRuns(ctx context.Context, lister listers.TaskRunLister) {
+	logger := logging.FromContext(ctx)
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			// When the context is cancelled, stop reporting.
+			return
+
+		case <-time.After(r.ReportingPeriod):
+			// Every 30s surface a metric for the number of running tasks.
+			if err := r.RunningTaskRuns(lister); err != nil {
+				logger.Warnf("Failed to log the metrics : %v", err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // RecordPodLatency logs the duration required to schedule the pod for TaskRun
 // returns an error if its failed to log the metrics
 func (r *Recorder) RecordPodLatency(pod *corev1.Pod, tr *v1beta1.TaskRun) error {
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go
index d6a499fa275..ca91020bceb 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go
@@ -421,8 +421,6 @@ func (c *Reconciler) reconcile(ctx context.Context, tr *v1beta1.TaskRun,
 // Push changes (if any) to the TaskRun status, labels and annotations to
 // TaskRun definition in ectd
 func (c *Reconciler) updateStatusLabelsAndAnnotations(tr, original *v1beta1.TaskRun) error {
-	var updated bool
-
 	if !equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(original.Status, tr.Status) {
 		// If we didn't change anything then don't call updateStatus.
 		// This is important because the copy we loaded from the informer's
@@ -432,7 +430,6 @@ func (c *Reconciler) updateStatusLabelsAndAnnotations(tr, original *v1beta1.Task
 			c.Logger.Warn("Failed to update taskRun status", zap.Error(err))
 			return err
 		}
-		updated = true
 	}
 
 	// When we update the status only, we use updateStatus to minimize the chances of
@@ -444,16 +441,6 @@ func (c *Reconciler) updateStatusLabelsAndAnnotations(tr, original *v1beta1.Task
 			c.Logger.Warn("Failed to update TaskRun labels/annotations", zap.Error(err))
 			return err
 		}
-		updated = true
-	}
-
-	if updated {
-		go func(metrics *Recorder) {
-			err := metrics.RunningTaskRuns(c.taskRunLister)
-			if err != nil {
-				c.Logger.Warnf("Failed to log the metrics : %v", err)
-			}
-		}(c.metrics)
 	}
 
 	return nil