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Run By Numbers

For cross-country and distance-track coaches

Build a winning team without losing sight of the individual.

Get each runner their workout and target splits before practice. Keep their results, effort ratings and progress together afterward, without trying to keep the entire team in your head.

You’ve already got a meet schedule to remember. And a missing uniform to find.

Start with your team

Free with 7 athletes and 25 workouts. No credit card.

The coach app on a workout day: team signals, and each runner’s effort, fatigue and check-in answers.

Real screens from the RBN coach app, running a demo season. The runners are made up.

Hey coach,

I’m Shawn. I’ve spent a lot of years coaching high school cross country and distance track, and one of my favorite parts of the job is watching a runner do something they didn’t know they could do.

Getting a whole team to that point, though, means paying attention to a lot of individual runners. You’re planning practices, figuring out the right targets, watching how everyone responds, and trying to remember what that freshman told you after Tuesday’s workout. All while getting ready for the next meet.

For years, I used spreadsheets to help me keep track of it all. They helped with the numbers, but I still had to pull everything together to make sense of what was happening with my team.

That’s why I built Run By Numbers. I wanted a place where I could get the workout and each runner’s targets ready, see how they actually ran and felt, and follow their progress over time. I wanted to spend less time piecing everything together and more time coaching.

My hope is that RBN helps you do the same. You know your runners and your program. The coaching decisions are yours. I just want to make it a little easier to have the information you need when you make them.

Thanks for spending some time here and taking a look. I’m glad you found us.

Shawn Siemers

Coach · Author of Build, Don’t Borrow

Read my coaching beliefs

Thirty runners (Or more).One practice.Individual coaching for every one.

Individual attention

One workout.Everybody knows what they’re supposed to run.

“Coach, what’s my split?” is a perfectly reasonable question. You should not have to answer it thirty times while also looking for a cone.

Write the workout, assign your runners, and let RBN calculate their individual targets. Each runner can see their own numbers before practice. You can send the plan to their app and print a practice sheet with the targets ready to go.

Now you can spend your time explaining what you want from the workout, watching them run it, and coaching the team in front of you.

Get the whole practice ready

Example · Workout targets

Tue, Sep 15 · Fall 2026 Cross Country

Varsity and JV workout

Specific Endurance9 assigned athletes

5x1000m @ 5K pace | 2:30 jog

Target for each rep of 5x1000m @ 5K pace | 2:30 jog, by runner
Athlete1600m anchorEach 1000m
Lucas Kim4:453:20.1
Ethan Brooks4:523:25.1
Liam Carter5:003:30.7
Noah Bennett5:123:39.1
Zoe Coleman5:303:51.7
Chloe Ramirez5:383:57.4
Maya Torres5:454:02.3
Ava Patel6:084:18.4
Emma Diaz6:304:33.9

Try it with one of your runners.

Type in a runner’s 1600m time. This is what RBN would put on their phone for practice.

Their five training paces · 5K goal
Training rolePacePer 400mPer 1600m
Endurance Support1:45.57:02.0
Direct Endurance1:39.86:39.3
Specific Endurance1:36.16:24.3
Direct Speed1:31.36:05.0
Speed Support1:25.55:42.0

Hi there

1600m time 5:42

Today’s workout

5x1000m @ 5K pace, 2:30 jog

1000m · rep 14:00.2

1000m · rep 24:00.2

1000m · rep 34:00.2

1000m · rep 44:00.2

1000m · rep 54:00.2

Your target splits · tap for details

Example, drawn from the athlete app. What you type stays on this page.

That’s one runner. RBN does this for your whole roster, every workout. Print your whole team’s sheet free

Start with your team

Free with 7 athletes and 25 workouts. No credit card.

Two-way communication

They shouldn’t have to guess the workout.You shouldn’t have to guess how it went.

Get the plan to your runners before practice. Get more than finish times back.

Out to your runnersTheir app is free

Their workout. Their target splits. On their phone before practice, instead of waiting for you to read everybody’s numbers off the clipboard.

On the My Data page in their athlete app, they can look back at their history, paces and PRs. Progress doesn’t have to be something the coach knows and the runner hopes is happening.

Hi Maya

1600m focus

Pre-workout check-in

Let your coach know how you’re feeling before today’s workout.

Today’s workout

5x1000m @ 5K pace, 2:30 jog

1000m · rep 14:02.3

1000m · rep 24:02.3

1000m · rep 34:02.3

1000m · rep 44:02.3

1000m · rep 54:02.3

Your target splits · tap for details

Example, drawn from the athlete app

Back to you

Pre-workout check-ins give runners a way to report things like sleep, energy and stress. Afterward, they can tell you how hard the workout felt.

Because “fine” has enjoyed a long, deeply unhelpful career as an answer.

The athlete app’s pre-practice check-in.
Real screen from the athlete app

Be the runner for ten seconds.

Fill in a check-in the way your athletes would. Then look at what shows up on your phone.

Their phone

Pre-Practice Check-In

You

How many hours did you sleep last night?

4h12h

Energy

Physical energy level right now

Stress

School, life, anything weighing on you

Last meal

Your phone

Today · Direct Speed

8x300m at 1600m effort, 300m jog

Team signals

16 of 16 checked in

0Flagged

7.3Avg sleep

7Avg energy

You

checked in

Sleep
8h
Energy
8
Stress
4
Meal
Ate 1-2h ago

15 more runners below

Example, drawn from the athlete and coach apps. The colors and the flag follow the app’s own rules. The other 15 runners are made up, and what you tap stays on this page.

Same splits.Very different afternoons.

Example · Workout results

Athlete results (2)

Rep splits for two runners with the same 3:30.7 target
AthleteRep 1Rep 2Rep 3Rep 4Rep 5Signal
Liam Carter3:30.73:30.43:30.73:30.93:30.73:29.83:30.73:30.23:30.73:29.5Controlled
Sofia Nguyen3:30.73:30.63:30.73:30.73:30.73:30.13:30.73:29.93:30.73:29.7Controlled

Athlete RPE — 16 of 16 responded

AthleteEffortFatigue
Liam Carter4 Easy4
Sofia Nguyen10 All out8

Liam rated the workout a 4 out of 10, easy. Sofia rated it a 10, all out. They ran almost identical times.

The stopwatch did its job. It just wasn’t interviewing anybody.

Sofia might be proud of getting through a hard workout. She might also be wondering how she’ll get through another one. I’d like to know which conversation we’re having before I announce that everybody had a great day.

What your runners get

Athletes ages 13 to 17 need a parent or guardian’s OK before they use the app.

Whole-team development

See how every runner is progressing.

With a full roster, it’s easy to lose track of how each runner is doing from week to week.

See who’s improving, who’s holding steady and who deserves a closer look, without opening thirty separate histories. Give the runner making progress a little recognition. Look into a rough stretch. Or see enough to leave a sound plan alone.

So when a runner asks, “Am I getting better?” you can see how far they’ve come.

Example · Season read

Season read · Improving?

Are we improving this season?

1 slipping lately · 7 improving · 5 holding · 3 not enough evidence yet

Slipping lately 1

Noah Bennett

+0:38latest race off the season best

Last two 5Ks 19:24 Oct 10 · 19:30 Oct 17

Needs you

The last two 5Ks (19:24 on Oct 10, 19:30 on Oct 17) are both more than 2% slower than the season best (18:52, Sep 26).

Open Noah Bennett →

Improving 7

Lucas Kim

−0:29vs first race

Season best 16:51 Oct 17

Ethan Brooks

−0:31vs first race

Season best 17:31 Oct 17

Noah has been slower in his last two races. Worth checking in before practice.

What’s happening outside practice can show up in a workout.

A runner is struggling to hit paces they’ve handled before. Is it just a tough day, or is something else going on?

RBN brings check-ins and workout results together, so you can see when things like sleep, food, or stress show up alongside harder workouts. It won’t tell you why a runner struggled, but it can give you a better place to start the conversation.

Know who to check on.

When a runner reports the same concern across several check-ins, RBN brings it to your attention. Maybe they haven’t been eating before practice, or they keep reporting low energy. Now you know who you might want to pull aside and ask, “Hey, how’s it going?”

Afterward, you can record what you talked about and keep track of any follow-up. Your coaching staff can see it too, so everyone knows where things stand.

See how RBN helps you follow your team’s progress

Example · Analytics

Analytics

What does the recorded data tell you?

As of Oct 16.

2

athletes to check on

3

check-in answers line up with workouts

Check on

Ava Patel

Oct 13 – Oct 16

Ava Patel hadn’t eaten before the workout on 3 check-ins in a row. Worth asking about eating before practice.

See the check-ins

What a check-in tends to say about the workout

  • Ava Patel had a bad day 4 of 5 times without eating first, and 0 of 6 times after eating.
  • Noah Bennett’s RPE ran about 1½ higher after under 6 hours of sleep than after 7 hours or more (4 of 5 times above usual).
Ava reported not eating before practice three times in a row. Now you have something specific to ask her about.

Her slow days were the days she hadn’t eaten before practice.

“One of my runners was inconsistent in workouts. Some days she hit her targets. Other days she struggled with work she should have handled, and I couldn’t figure out why.

“RBN showed a pattern: her slow days lined up with check-ins saying she hadn’t eaten before practice. I showed her the workouts and check-ins together, and we talked about it.

“She started eating before practice. At her last meet of the year, she ran a 46-second 5K PR.

“I can’t prove the food did all of that. I do know I’d never have thought to ask.”

Shawn Siemers, coach

Wait, it does that too?

There’s also the season to plan, the meet to prepare for and the question you answered eleven minutes ago.

Screens and examples from the app, running a demo season. The runners are made up.

Find out whether your pack is getting tighter.

See the gap from your first runner to your fifth. Know how much ground separates them when you’re working toward a tighter pack.

Drag any runner to a new time at the Oct 25 meet.

Pack gap

1:09

1st to 5th season best · Maya Torres to Nora Patel

About the same as before the Oct 25 race

Order by season best September best 1st to 5th season bestFaster →

Example, drawn from the app’s Team rankings. The gap and the trend follow the app’s own rules: each runner’s fastest race this season, first to fifth, and a change of 3 seconds or less reads as about the same. The runners are made up, and what you drag stays on this page.

  • The coach app’s season screen: the 5K-pace workouts in order, 4x1000m on Sep 8, then 5x1000m on Sep 15 and Sep 22.

    Remember what worked last season.

    Keep season phases, meets and saved workout progressions organized, so you can build on what worked instead of reconstructing it from a file named final_FINAL_use_this_one.

  • Varsity and JV workout

    Tuesday, September 15

    5x1000m @ 5K pace | 2:30 jog

    Run By Numbers

    Printed sheet with each runner’s target under each rep box
    Athlete12345
    Lucas Kim3:20.13:20.13:20.13:20.13:20.1
    Ethan Brooks3:25.13:25.13:25.13:25.13:25.1
    Liam Carter3:30.73:30.73:30.73:30.73:30.7
    Noah Bennett3:39.13:39.13:39.13:39.13:39.1
    Zoe Coleman3:51.73:51.73:51.73:51.73:51.7
    Chloe Ramirez3:57.43:57.43:57.43:57.43:57.4

    Notes

    Take the targets out to practice.

    See everyone’s target splits for the current workout in the coach’s phone app, or print a practice sheet with room to record their splits. Bring whichever works for you. The targets come either way.

  • Training paces per 1600m for three runners
    AthleteESDESEDSSS
    Liam6:105:505:375:205:00
    Noah6:256:045:515:335:12
    Zoe6:476:256:115:525:30

    Your workout. Your paces.

    Use the training paces that fit your workout, including percentages of a pace. RBN calculates each runner’s targets.

    • Liam CarterPredicted 17:3317:20Faster than predicted
    • Zoe ColemanPredicted 19:1919:17As predicted
    • Maya TorresPredicted 20:1120:26Slower than predicted

    Give race results some context.

    Compare finish times with pre-meet estimates to help decide what to ask about afterward. Faster or slower is the start of the conversation, not the complete race report.

  • Coaching staff · 3

    Who coaches with you

    Assistants see everything and can log results and send check-ins, but only you can create or change workouts, athletes, and seasons.

    • Jordan Ellis (you)jordan.ellis@example.comHead coach
    • Casey Morgan casey.morgan@example.comAssistant
    • Sam Rivera sam.rivera@example.comAssistant

    Invite an assistant

    Send the link to your assistant. They sign in with their own Google account to join. No shared password.

    Links expire in 14 daysGenerate invite link

    Share the work without sharing a brain.

    Give staff their own logins, share the work and keep follow-ups in the coach record. Less “Did you talk to her?” followed by “I thought you did.”

Also in the box:RelaysSeason mileage ledgerHeat-adjusted targetsWeather saved with every workoutWorkout searchThe coach app on your phone

See every feature

Stuff coaches ask after practice

What you need to get started, how your runners join, who enters the results, and what it costs. The things you should be able to find without booking a “discovery call.” You’ve already discovered what you wanted to ask.

All the questions

What do I need to get started?

Your athletes, a working 1600m time for each one, and a workout. That’s enough for one real practice with every runner’s targets. You don’t need a season of data first.

Who enters the results?

You or your assistant coaches, on the web. Athletes send effort ratings and check-ins from their phones.

How do my athletes get on the app?

You send each athlete an invitation from your roster. They open it on their phone and sign in with Google. Tell them to use their personal Gmail. School accounts often have restrictions that prevent the athlete from logging into RBN.

Do athletes have to answer the check-ins?

They don’t have to. A missing answer stays blank. It doesn’t count as “fine” and it doesn’t count as anything else.

Can I use my own pace formulas?

You choose the training. The targets come from each runner’s working 1600m time and RBN’s built-in pace system. It isn’t a blank formula box. I’d rather tell you that now than say “fully customizable” and let you find out which half of that sentence I meant.

Who sees what my athletes report?

Your head coach and assistant coaches. Coach notes and follow-ups aren’t shown in athlete accounts.

What does it cost?

Free with 7 athletes and 25 workouts. Founding price: $249 a year under 50 athletes, $349 for 50 or more, through January 31, 2027, and your first year runs 15 months. The Founders Club

The RBN Founders Club

Go first.
Get more back.

  • 15months for the price of a year
  • $249a year under 50 athletes, kept while you stay subscribed
  • 4founder-only Coaching Labs
  • 90days to decide, from your first workout
See the Founders Club

Founding closes January 31, 2027

Run By Numbers · Founding coach

$249

a year, kept while you stay subscribed

15months4Labs90days to decide

Founding rate $249 a year. 15 months for your first year, 4 Coaching Labs and a 90-day guarantee.

You’re still the coach.We’re quite firm about that.

RBN doesn’t write your training or diagnose why a runner had a bad day. It helps you get ready, see what happened and decide what to ask next.

The app is not going to pull a kid aside after practice and have a good conversation. That’s your department.

Your plan. Your call.

What it won’t do

  • Diagnose anything.It isn’t medical software.
  • Sell your athletes’ data or show ads.We don’t do either.
  • Pull from watches.Results are entered by hand.

    I noticed that more than half of my athletes don’t have a GPS watch to capture their data. So, I decided to build an app based only on manual times. That way everyone is coached, not just the ones who can afford a pricey watch.

Your whole team. Fewer details to carry alone.

Give your runners their numbers. See their results and feedback together. Find out whether RBN makes your coaching week easier.

Much more useful than taking a website’s word for it. Even this extremely charming one.

Your notes from this page

0 of 3 tried

  • Your runner

    Type a runner’s 1600m time. Try it ↑

  • Your check-in

    Fill in a check-in as one of your runners. Try it ↑

  • Your pack

    Move a runner at the Oct 25 meet. Try it ↑

Each one takes about ten seconds, and each follows the app’s own rules.

These notes stay on this page. A reload clears them.

Alright, let’s see Tuesday’s workout in it

Free with 7 athletes and 25 workouts. No credit card.

Not ready to try it? Fair enough. Read the coaching newsletter first