Vert.run, the popular platform that aims to make trail running more accessible through personal and affordable coaching, released a major mobile app redesign on July 4. 

“For the past 6 months, we’ve worked hard to design, develop and create a faster, cleaner, smarter Vert.run App for you,” the company said. That includes cleaner and easy-to-understand charts to follow running progress, a simple workout overview and a new home page that includes a clear overview of goals and today’s training.

The refreshed app is available both in Google Play and the App Store.

Vert.run says that its trail-running and ultra-running training platform helps people to train more intelligently and with purpose. The plans help runners from a 5k to a variety of ultra distances. The lower-distance plans (up to 32k) can be used for free and are often geared toward those who are relatively new to trail running, while the longer-distance plans have a modest cost per month and provide a customized approach and feedback from a coach a couple of times a week.

The platform has more than 85,000 trail runners from over 100 different countries utilizing its service. It has 12 coaches on staff, and its training plans were created by some of the biggest names in the sport, like Ruth Croft, Lucy Bartholomew, Pau Capell, Ryan Sandes and Grayson Murphy.

“Trail running training is often only for those who can afford to pay a $200 or $300 private coach per month. And if someone can afford that, that’s amazing. But the reality is that most runners can’t afford that,” Kirsten Kortebein told ActionHub in the past. “So, what we’ve done is design a system where most runners can train with a coach through Vert, but for $25 a month. We’re just trying to open the door a little bit wider to help guide people into the sport.”

Kortebein, along with Moisés Jiménez, Max Keith and Cristóbal Forno, founded Vert.run. That $25 price has remained in place since the platformed launched a couple of years ago, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

They said that the new Vert.run App makes it even easier to follow a training plan and export workouts to Suunto, Coros, Garmin and more. Each workout is organized to get users the most important info right away, thus putting more focus on the fun part: running!

“We’re trying to find the sweet spot for people who don’t need a private coach to create a workout from scratch and checking in every day,” Kortebein has said. “We’re making an option for people who need to check in a couple of times a week and need a coach to keep an eye on them and make sure that everything is going OK, make sure they’re not getting injured.”

Ultimately, Vert.run has created the same innovation in trail running that athletes saw in cycling, triathlon and road running training.