Strava’s Runna app taps Loughborough University to put sports science into digital coaching

Running coaching app Runna is partnering with Loughborough University to bring academic sports science more deeply into the algorithms that underpin its personalised training plans.

The collaboration will see researchers review the way Runna progresses pace and distance and builds recovery into its programmes, benchmarking its training logic against current research into training load, intensity distribution and recovery protocols.

Runna’s plans are designed by qualified coaches using established training principles and personalised according to each runner’s history, with progressive load building and structured recovery.

The academic review will be led by Dr Richard Blagrove, reader in applied exercise physiology and athlete performance at Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences.

Blagrove is an accredited strength and conditioning coach and former director of the UK Strength and Conditioning Association, who has worked with Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

He says training load, intensity distribution and recovery are three areas that can contribute to injury and the collaboration will bring the latest research in these fields into Runna’s coaching logic.

Blagrove also draws a distinction between Runna’s coach-led approach and fully AI-generated programmes, saying the combination of sports science and coaching expertise “cannot be replicated by generic AI training plans”.

Runna head coach Steph Kessell said: “We’re proud to make expert coaching accessible and affordable for everyone.”

She said the partnership will help ensure Runna’s plans continue to incorporate evolving sports science research, with the aim of enabling runners at all levels to train more sustainably.

Founded by Dom Maskell and Ben Parker in 2021 and launched in March 2022, Runna offers personalised programmes for runners ranging from beginners training for their first 5K to ultramarathon competitors. The company operates in more than 180 countries and is now owned by Strava.

The Loughborough deal also extends a wider push by Strava to bring more academic research into its technology. In June, Strava announced a collaboration with Stanford Lifestyle Medicine and Stanford’s Female Athlete Science and Translational Research programme to bring sports science insights to its community, which now numbers more than 195 million athletes.

The Runna partnership could point to an emerging direction for digital coaching, as platforms seek to combine personalisation and data-led programming with greater academic rigour rather than relying solely on generative AI.