VMAX, a run coaching app built by a certified running coach, launched Nov. 6 on the App Store and Google Play.
In a world where AI is being injected into every product, VMAX takes the old-school route: a real human coach designed the training. Founder and head coach Brad Merrill, a UESCA-certified coach who has been running since 2014 and coaching since 2020, prewrote every plan his intake questions can lead to: 14 programs, from a beginner 5K plan to an advanced full marathon plan, with more than 900 unique plan variations. “That’s why it took me three years,” Merrill said. “It wasn’t so much the development of the app, it was the development of the training.”
In Merrill’s words: “There’s a lot of science behind good training, but unless you’re an elite athlete with a full-time coach, you’re probably not utilizing it. With VMAX, I wanted to create a product that puts that science into the hands of every runner, in an accessible way: here’s today’s run, here’s your pace range, here’s why we’re doing it. No more guesswork, no more Google searches. Just follow the plan and start making real progress toward your goals.”
A runner answers a few questions about their experience, goals, and schedule, then enters a recent race result (if they have one). VMAX matches them to a program and calculates more than 20 personalized training paces, each aimed at a specific training zone and prescribed as a range, never a single rigid number. The paces adjust over time as the runner responds to training, and a new race result recalibrates them all. On the run, VMAX shows live pace targets, and spoken cues come in Merrill’s own recorded voice, not text-to-speech. Every workout comes with instructions and a bit of education about the physiological benefit it aims to elicit.
The plan isn’t fixed. VMAX tracks how each runner responds to training and scales upcoming workouts up or down to match. When life gets in the way, the plan adapts rather than piling on: VMAX offers to move a missed long run, and after illness or injury it eases runners back in instead of asking them to make up what they missed. Runners can also opt in to heat-adjusted paces on hot days. Easing paces or dropping to a lower level is always the runner’s call.
GPS run tracking is free for every runner, with route maps, splits, personal records, and a Trophy Case of beautiful 3D awards. Runs save to the device in real time, so if the app closes or a battery dies mid-run, VMAX reopens right where the runner left off.
Training plans, guided workouts, and personalized paces are part of VMAX Pro, which costs $99.99 a year or $19.99 a month with a 7-day free trial. VMAX is available now in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Find VMAX on the App Store or Google play by visiting vmax.run/app.
VMAX is a run coaching app with coach-written training plans, personalized pace ranges, and GPS run tracking. Learn more at vmax.run.
VMAX
