A rat will generally not run towards you on purpose because wild rats are naturally afraid of humans and see people as large predators to be avoided, and their instinct is to flee, freeze, or hide when they detect a human. In most cases, a rat that is startled will run away from you along walls toward its nest or hiding place. However, there are specific situations where it may appear that a rat is running towards you. If you are standing between the rat and its escape route, such as blocking a doorway or hallway that leads to its nest, the rat may run past you or towards you in an attempt to reach safety because it has no other way out. If a rat is cornered, trapped, sick, injured, or has been poisoned, it may behave erratically, become disoriented, and run in unpredictable directions, including towards people, out of panic. In rare cases, a rat that is very comfortable in a home and habituated to humans may be less afraid and may approach closer than a wild rat would. Roof rats and Norway rats do not typically attack humans unless they feel threatened and cannot escape, in which case they may bite defensively. So while a healthy wild rat will almost always run away from you, it may run towards you if its escape path is blocked, if it is cornered, or if it is sick and confused.
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