The Technogym Run is an impressive machine and one of the best treadmills you can get, as long as neither its size or price put you off. You can get more compact machines that offer better value for home use, including the Technogym MyRun treadmill or Bowflex Treadmill 10, but if you simply want the best machine the Technogym Run is hard to look past.
Technogym Run: Price And Availability
The Technogym Run treadmill launched in spring 2023 and costs $11,850 in the US and £9,480 in the UK. This makes it one of the most expensive home treadmills, and the priciest that I’ve tested. The Technogym MyRun is a cheaper option in the range at $4,650/£3,450.
How I Tested This Treadmill
I tested the Technogym Run for two weeks, doing six runs on it during that time as part of my usual training: I’m a keen runner and was logging 60-70 miles a week while marathon training at the time of the review. I’ve also tested the Technogym MyRun treadmill, as well as the Peloton Tread and a range of the best treadmills for home use.
The Treadmill
The Run is a large machine that doesn’t fold. It measures 78in x 33in x 69in (LxWxH; 197cm x 83.5cm x 175cm) and has a 68in x 20in (172cm x 51cm) slatted running belt. This belt is raised off the floor, and you need clearance in the room where you use the machine. Technogym suggests a ceiling height of a user height plus 23in (59cm) to be safe. The max user weight is 353lb/160kg.
There are paddles at the front on either side of the machine that are used to change speed and incline quickly, and bars to hold when using the sled push function. The Run has a speed range of 0.1mph-15.5mph, which is a higher top speed than most home machines. It has an incline range of 0%-15%. It doesn’t offer a downhill incline setting, unlike some home treadmills from other brands.
A 27in HD touchscreen is on the front of the machine. In the main, this is what’s used to control it. The screen is huge and when running it creates an immersive experience, whether you’re following a guided workout, enjoying a scenic run or using apps like Netflix or YouTube.
The large running area, slatted belt and open front makes running feel natural. With most treadmills I’ve tested, I usually feel a difference in the feel and intensity of indoor running vs outdoors, but to me the Run feels like a more realistic equivalent of outdoor running with regards to effort and feel. The machine changes speed and incline quickly during interval workouts, and runs smoothly and quietly at higher speeds. You can also do sled-push exercises on it, leaning forward and holding the front bars and pushing against resistance on the belt. It can mimic weights of up to 121lb/55kg.
External devices, such as heart rate monitors, can be connected to the treadmill via Bluetooth and ANT+. It’s also possible to control external devices, like laptops or iPads, running apps such as Zwift. You can even plug a device in through an HDMI port on the back of the screen or use a Google Chromecast to mirror devices on the Run screen. You can use this to run Zwift on the treadmill’s screen, for example. A strong Wi-Fi connection is required to run some of the content smoothly on the treadmill’s screen, which may affect where you place the machine in your house.
There’s nothing to fault with the hardware on the treadmill, as you’d expect from gym-standard equipment at this price. It runs like a dream and is likely to be better than the treadmill at your gym—unless it has its own Technogym Run.
The App
Brillant hardware is just half the story with the best treadmills these days, and the success of the Run is heavily dependent on the Technogym app. You can log in to your account on the machine by holding your phone near the NFC sensor on the console, or scan a QR code.
There’s no need to log in to use most of the features, but for the best experience it’s worth linking an account. The treadmill uses your personal information to judge stats like calories, and you can see your workout history and sync training sessions to other apps, like Strava. There are four broad categories of entertainment available in the app: guided workouts, scenic runs, links to third-party apps, and links to streaming apps such as Netflix.
The guided workout category is extensive. It includes trainer-led sessions that can focus on running or incorporate the sled feature on the machine—so you can swap between running and pushing for a varied workout. There are also workouts to follow off the machine, like strength training and yoga. I still rate the guided class on the Peloton Tread as the best I’ve tried, but the Technogym sessions are excellent too. There are many options and the instructors are motivating.
The routines section of the app has guided workouts that can run in the background, so you can fire one up to follow, with the incline and speed changing automatically (you can also adjust them manually), while watching another app or a scenic run. You can create a custom routine if you have a training plan you’re following and want to do the workout on the treadmill.
There are instructions that pop up when there’s a change in incline or speed, so you know it’s happening even if you’re using another app. The routines section contains a lot of workouts and it’s easy to tailor them to the time you have available, your fitness goals and your fitness level. You can even set up a customized training plan in the app for a 5K, 10K or half marathon.
The guided workouts are a big part of the Run’s appeal and you get an impressive library of them with a free account. You can unlock even more classes with a Technogym Plus subscription for $8.99/£8.99 a month, though I don’t think it’s a necessary addition given the amount of content you get without the subscription. It’s not the same as with the Peloton Tread, which is a basic machine with a simple running mode unless you have a Peloton subscription.
I have a training plan that’s set by my coach so I don’t use guided workouts on treadmills much beyond testing them out. As a result, the other entertainment options on the Run suited me better. The scenic runs are spectacular on the 27in screen, and there are some that use automatic incline changes to mirror the landscape you’re running on.
I’m a fan of using Zwift when on a treadmill because I find watching my avatar running through a virtual world engaging. I linked the Run to Zwift on my iPad for some runs, leaving the treadmill’s screen free to show workouts, scenic runs or YouTube, and did one run with Zwift mirrored from my laptop to the treadmill screen through an HDMI cable, which worked well.
The Technogym app is packed with entertainment that makes running on the treadmill fly by. On one evening run I had Zwift on the iPad with a scenic run and then YouTube on the treadmill screen. It’s a long way from my early days of treadmill testing, when mostly I stared at a brick wall.
Is The Technogym Run Worth It?
If price isn’t a concern, the Technogym Run is comfortably the best treadmill I’ve tested. It feels natural and comfortable to run on, and the software is without equal in the depth and range of entertainment available to help your runs pass by.
However, if you’re at all concerned by the price of the Run, then it isn’t worth it. This is because you can get superb home treadmills for a lot less, like the Technogym MyRun, Bowflex Treadmill 10 or Peloton Tread. The Wahoo Kickr Run treadmill, which is due to launch in summer 2024, will be half the price of the Technogym Run and has the ability to adjust its speed based on how you’re running, making it another intriguing, cheaper option to consider.
