RUN X™ opens registration for official centres ahead of first World Treadmill Championship
by 3rd June 2026
Fitness and wellness facilities around the world can now register to join the RUN X™ network, as Technogym and World Athletics confirm further details of the first World Treadmill Championship.
The announcement was made on Global Running Day, Wednesday 3 June, at the RUN X™ programme launch at Technogym Village in Cesena, Italy.
RUN X™, a new 5km global treadmill running competition, will allow runners of all levels to compete on connected treadmills in affiliated centres around the world, with performances displayed on online leaderboards at local and global level.
Technogym, the world leader in wellness, athletic training and health, and World Athletics, the international federation governing the No.1 Olympic sport, have developed RUN X™ to create a new connected competition format for runners worldwide.
Starting today, fitness and wellness clubs, universities, corporate facilities and hotels can affiliate with RUN X™ by joining the network of official centres that will host the qualification phase of the inaugural championship.
From October 2026, runners from around the world will be able to take part in the qualification phase at their local affiliated centres. They will also be able to train at home using equipment connected to the Technogym Digital Ecosystem.
RUN X™ will give participants the opportunity to compare their performances with other runners through online leaderboards, monitoring their ranking in real time within their club and globally. Results from the 5km trials will be certified through treadmills connected to the Technogym Digital Ecosystem.
From January 2027, qualified runners in each country will progress to the regional phase.
The final will be held at Technogym Village, in the heart of the Wellness Valley in Cesena, Italy, on 20-21 March 2027. The leading men and women, both overall and by age group, will compete for the first world treadmill titles.
RUN X™ will award a prize pool of US$100,000. World Athletics will also award wild card entries to the respective Member Federations of the best overall male and female athlete, giving them the opportunity to compete in the 5km race at the 2027 World Athletics Road Running Championships in Yangzhou, China, the weekend after the RUN X™ final.
The RUN X™ World Treadmill Championship is born from the shared vision of Technogym and World Athletics to use the global popularity of running to create a format that is accessible, inclusive and connected. It is designed to bring running communities into fitness and wellness centres, while removing barriers linked to location, weather or time of day.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, speaking at the RUN X™ programme launch in Cesena, said: “Our shared vision for RUN X™ is to bring more runners into the athletics family, create a fresh global community, and open up a new kind of world championship within our sport, focused on indoor treadmill running.
"This kind of innovative partnership between World Athletics and Technogym is vital to the continued growth of athletics. We are operating in a world where competition for people’s attention has never been more intense, so if we want to keep growing and become more commercially successful, we have to embrace change and innovation – including in the world of running.”
"We are very proud of this partnership with World Athletics that will define a new sport discipline and will take running, one of the most popular sports in the world, into fitness and wellness clubs," added Technogym President Nerio Alessandri. "RUN X™ will connect millions of runners with our partner fitness centres around the globe, while our exclusive Technogym ecosystem will serve as the driving force behind this new competition.”
For affiliated centres, RUN X™ provides access to the competition format, software, certified rankings, merchandising, marketing support and social media content. Facilities joining the network will be able to host official RUN X™ activity, engage existing members, attract new participants and become part of a global running community.
For more information, visit runx.org.