Two of the greatest runners on the planet have joined forces — and the result could change the way millions of people train forever.
Kilian Jornet, the legendary ultra-trail runner and mountain athlete, has officially come on board at AI-powered running app Kotcha as an athlete founder, joining marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, who already held that same title at the company.
But this isn’t your standard celebrity sponsorship deal — and both athletes are making that very clear.
Here’s what’s actually going on behind the scenes, why the “founder” title is already raising eyebrows, and what this app is promising runners that nothing else on the market has delivered yet.
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Two Legends, One Mission
Jornet broke the news on Instagram, explaining that years of elite competition had given him something he felt compelled to share — not a rigid training blueprint, but a deeper framework for understanding the human body.
After many years of training, racing, making mistakes, learning from my body and trying to understand what actually makes a runner improve over time, I wanted to help build something that could share that knowledge in a useful way.
He was quick to shut down any assumption that users would simply be handed his personal training schedule.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
The goal is not to give people ‘Kilian’s training plan.’ Good training is about understanding your own body, finding your own rhythm, and building consistency over time, more than copying a rigid plan.
It’s a pointed message — and one that sets Kotcha apart from the crowded field of cookie-cutter fitness apps flooding the market right now.
What Exactly Is Kotcha?
Kotcha is an AI-powered training app built around a runner’s individual level, goals, and lifestyle — not a fixed 12-week program that ignores who you actually are.
Its stated mission is bold: “to make society physically, mentally, and socially healthier through the power of running.”
The platform was built by three founders — Ben, a product expert and multi-marathoner who felt existing apps were missing the mark; Dim, a marketer; and Mac, a builder. Together they set out to create something more adaptive, more human.
One of Kotcha’s more interesting philosophical stances? Running isn’t a solo grind. The app frames it as a team sport.
Kipchoge Was First — Here’s How It Started
The Kotcha team’s relationship with Kipchoge began in February 2025 at his legendary training camp in Kaptagat, Kenya, where they sat down with the marathon icon and his longtime coach Patrick Sang.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
They didn’t just talk running. They planted trees together at the camp to mark the partnership — a gesture that speaks to the values-driven culture both athletes seem drawn to.
After the London Marathon two months later, the team regrouped with Kipchoge and Sang to review early app designs. Kotcha officially launched in the fall of 2025, timed to coincide with Kipchoge’s first-ever New York City Marathon.
Jornet Joined This Spring — and the Process Was Serious
Jornet’s involvement didn’t happen over a Zoom call. The Kotcha team traveled to Mallorca, where the Spanish mountain runner trains, to work directly with him on translating his methods into something the app could generate at scale.
Trail plans within the app now incorporate Jornet’s specific approach to terrain reading and mountain strategy — elements that simply don’t exist in mainstream running apps.
His involvement follows his extraordinary States of Elevation project last fall, during which he linked up all 72 U.S. fourteeners over 31 days. The man clearly doesn’t do anything small.
On what it means to be building something alongside Kipchoge, Jornet was genuinely reflective.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Working on this alongside Eliud feels right. We come from very different parts of running, but we share values both in life and training.
The “Founder” Title Is Already Causing Controversy
Not everyone is buying the framing — and that’s worth talking about.
Labeling Kipchoge and Jornet as founders has raised eyebrows across the running and startup worlds. Athletes at their level are not sitting in weekly product meetings, and the arrangement closely resembles deals where star athletes receive equity in exchange for input and association — not traditional founding roles.
As Marathon Handbook noted in earlier coverage of the Kotcha launch, early-stage startups rarely have the cash reserves to offer standard endorsement fees to athletes of this caliber. An equity stake at the ground floor becomes an attractive alternative — and the “founder” title carries a credibility that a standard sponsorship simply doesn’t.
It’s a smart move for everyone involved. But transparency around what these roles actually look like in practice would go a long way.
What Jornet Says His Role Actually Is
In his Instagram post, Jornet framed his contribution as supporting runners “with more awareness, structure and long-term perspective.”
He also stressed something that feels almost countercultural coming from an AI-powered product: the app “should not replace intuition or connection with the body.”
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
For runners who have long felt that technology was pulling them away from the pure experience of moving through the world, that’s a compelling promise.
Whether Kotcha can deliver on it — with two of history’s greatest runners lending it their names, their methods, and apparently their belief — is something the running community will be watching very closely.
