Strava acquires UK’s RUNNA Training App – First Thoughts

This is a game changer.

Runna is a UK-based running app, and Strava has just acquired it.

What is Runna

Runna is a popular UK running app, offering running plans on the Android and iOS platforms. It claims to have over 90,000 users, though I suspect the figure is higher. More than that, it has a pretty decent watchOS app and the backing of credible athletes like Beth Potter (UK), Colleen Quigley (USA) and Genevieve Gregson (AUS).

People love it.

Strategic Fit

Coming off Strava’s accelerated innovation and unprecedented growth last year, it was the right time to look for complementary businesses that could create even greater value for our users…Running is booming worldwide—nearly 1 billion runs were recorded on Strava in 2024. [M Martin, Strava CEO]

Strava has recognised the recent uptick in running, probably driven by a younger generation and has decided it wants to hook them into its ecosystem right from the get-go—a good move.

From a techy perspective, the old Strava app for watchOS was fine when it came out about two millennia ago, but hasn’t changed since. The company also acquired Runna’s highly respected watchOS app, which it will likely rebadge as Strava at some point in the future – although hopefully Strava will not change the existing tasteful colour palette into one consisting of multiple shades of garish orange—another great move.

It has acquired a UK Top 10 downloaded Apple app

I suspect that Strava’s existing subscription service was chugging along but not offering anything new to entice new people to pay money. Strava was probably innovating its subscription tier just to keep cycling subscribers. Well, they acquired a new way to get running subscribers hooked with training and coaching services – likely, another great move.

All that said, since the acquisition announcement, Runna has stated that it will remain operationally independent.

For now, the apps will stay separate. [M Martin, Strava CEO]

For now!

Other Nice Features

RUNNA has parkrun-specific features for those wanting to participate in weekly parkrun 5K events. You might not have heard of Parkrun in the USA, but Parkrun has over 10 million unique finishers worldwide. My local event boasts 1,000-2,000 runners every week, and my Parkrun claim to fame was that I nominated its founder, Paul Sinton-Hewit, for his CBE!

The app covers treadmill and outdoor workouts and doesn’t need a watch. If you want to use the smartphone app, you can also pair a heart rate strap to it – good and accurate choices would be an arm strap like Polar SENSE or a chest strap like Polar H9.

However, Runna works with Fitbit, Garmin, Suunto, Coros and Apple Watches to sync Runna workouts to execute on your watch. Polar?…A: no, Polar, where are you? This app is a route for new runners to buy their first watch. Obviously, it syncs your completed workout back to Strava…and Apple Health.

Your workouts can be planned into your Google and Outlook calendars (Apple?) to organise and remind you.

There is also local weather info.

2x subscriptions

The two apps are separate right now, so if you want to enjoy both, you must pay $119.99pa for Runa and $79.99pa for Strava.

I don’t have a problem with either of the apps charging a subscription – it’s wholly different from how Garmin puts some features behind its Connect+ paywall.

Strava must initially plan to cross-sell its new product to its existing customers and, of course, to introduce a new generation of Runna’s runners to Strava. Presumably, there will soon be discounts if you subscribe to both.

I could see how the subscription model evolves to give just one subscription, but I can’t see Strava convincing too many cyclists to pay more than $79.99. It will be a tricky sell.

In years gone by Strava had multiple tiers, but that added confusion and the tiers were stopped. Strava is unlikely to make the same mistake again.

Apple Watch App

I would love to see Runna tweaked with a strapline – Runna // by Strava and the Strava app binned.

That said, getting cyclists to use an app called RUNNA might be tricky – believe me I know, having called this site the5krunner when in reality I cycle more hours a week than I run. The nuances of my great brand name is lost on most suppliers and, I imagine, quite a few readers too. Runna/Strava will face the same issue.

The Downside

As you may have gathered by now, I think this is a good move. That said, here are some concerns.

Runna claims to have deeply individualised plans with dynamic adjustment to progress. It also boasts real-time audio cues and science-backed strength and conditioning. That is good, but it’s no different to what many other apps and platforms have offered for a few years. The devil is in the details of how these features are implemented – that said, users seem to love RUNNA so they must have implemented these features well.

I was involved in developing a running platform several years ago and did quite a bit of research into the market then. Only a relatively small percentage of runners follow a plan, predictably covering a range of abilities from newbies unsure how to train, for example, for their first 5k/Marathon, through to advanced runners wanting to eke out tens of seconds or minutes of improvements from well-established PBs. I’m not sure that huge numbers of people are willing to pay for a plan; furthermore, there is a lot of competition for those people’s money. Even worse, people don’t want to pay much for a plan, eg I can provide you with an excellent pace-based 5k/10k plan for GBP10- 20, more than good enough for a sub-25 to sub-19 minute/5k runner, and there are excellent, free couch-to-5k plans from the UK’s NHS and plenty of paper-based plans on the net if you Google around a bit.

Perhaps the best angle that Strava/Runna could push would be for Daily Suggested Workouts. This would attract many runners who want to casually know how to make the best of  ‘today’ based on physiology rather than follow a plan, but I doubt that alone would be worth the subscription fee for anyone. Of course, another company has already covered that nicely…Garmin – the market-leader- offers Daily Suggested Workouts for free.

Runna’s core competence problem is that it does not account for readiness and cannot make a holistic recommendation; it remodels training load based on the under- or over-achievement of the load from the last session.

RUNNA has Gen 1 adaptability (TRIMP/TL) – Garmin has Gen 2 (HRV) – others have Gen 3 (AI/ML)

Take Out

A good acquisition by Strava.

A good strategic fit that will resonate with a large part of its existing customer base and attract new subscribers.

Whether or not it’s a profitable acquisition is another matter entirely.

I really look forward to seeing where Strava will take Runna. Can the company shake up the training market, or will it simply end up duelling with the incumbents, providing a funnel for runners to buy Garmin watches and enjoy its free training plans?