This morning, news broke out that two of the services on our lists of best fitness apps were joined: Strava buyer Runna.
Strava, which we assessed an excellent service at both free and premium levels with a fantastic social media platform and run-tracking integrations, doesn’t have much in the way of coaching, which carried the availability of some static training plans. This seems to make Runna, another highly rated app built around coaching plans, including an AI coaching service, a good fit.
As Strava CEO Mike Martin put it in an interview with Techradar with Runna CEO Dom Maskell, “The way I think about it is like the world’s biggest team just got a new coach. I think it’s a really exciting way to place it.”
Having read the reactions to Runna subreddit (cautious optimism, unlike furor around Garmin’s new Connect+ Premium level last month), I would ask both CEOs, especially Martin, if there is a temptation to force Runna users to eventually on board to a new system, the same way Google has done with the Fitbit Society.
Martin said, “I want to be really aware of both communities and user bases … A key component of Strava is that we are and remain an open platform for the entire connected fitness industry. So we expect to continue to do so, and that’s how Runna is also integrated with Strava.
“I think there are plenty of interesting opportunities for us to speed up both the support we provide to the running community between the two companies. And just to put a good point on it, this is a growth and investment game for us … not to make a forced integration game or something similar.”
A runna for swimmers/cyclists?
I asked Maskell and Martin what the acquisition means for users of both platforms, and in the short term nothing will change. However, it seems that a given Strava will eventually be able to use some of Runa’s extensive training planning of Runna AI technology in some way.
I also asked what Runna will take from Strava: Of course, Strava also offers features to cyclists, swimmers, triathletes and all kinds of other disciplines. Could we see Runna-branded AI coaches for other sports in the future with Strava’s help and investment?
Short Answer: Not yet.
Maskell said, “It’s always been our long -term intention of exploring other sports one day. The reason we didn’t do triathlon kind of a few years ago is because it’s very complicated to do. We would have to build a swimming app for Apple Watch, and we would have to give customer support to cyclists, and all this kind of thing. other sports. ”
However, Maskell has revealed some changes in its roadmap: “We are probably looking to internationalize themselves for non-English-speaking language, probably in the next few years. Strava has a lot of users… that number [of non-English speaking users] is very, very tall.
“We may decide to translate a lot of coaching comments, all the videos, all that kind of content in the app before, so we are able to earn these users. I think that’s the kind of thing that would make sense to speed up.
“With regard to other sports, I think it’s more the long -term vision.”
