01
Tell it your goal
Pick a distance and a date — or just “I want to start.” Taper builds a plan around your real fitness and your real week, not a textbook's.
Taper — a calm marathon coach for iPhone · Made in London
Run your story,
one mile
at a time.
Signed up for a race — or just dreaming about one — and no idea how to train? Taper turns the big day into one plain-English sentence a day. No jargon. No guilt. No noise.
Nobody is born a runner. A marathon is a few hundred unremarkable mornings, added up. Taper makes each one simple: one run, one plain sentence, one small win.
— the idea behind Taper
How it works
From a big, scary goal to today's easy run.
No spreadsheets, no guesswork. Tell Taper your race and where you're starting — it turns the whole mountain into one doable step a day.
02
Run today's one thing
Every morning, one plain sentence: what to run, and why it matters today. The numbers wait behind a tap. That's the whole job.
03
It adapts, you arrive
Miss a run, sleep badly, feel strong — the plan quietly reshapes itself so your finish line stays exactly where it should: in reach.
What you get
Everything you need, nothing you don't.
Four things, quietly working together — so all you have to do is run.
A plan that adapts
Miss a week, catch a cold, feel strong — your training quietly reshapes around your real life.
How it adapts →A coach in your pocket
A morning “good to go,” a weekly check-in — each in one calm sentence, never a spreadsheet.
Meet the coach →See your own stride Beta
Shop-grade gait analysis from a propped-up iPhone — cadence, symmetry and form, all on your device.
See how →Fuelling, rehearsed
Train your gut like a muscle, so the wall at mile 18 never turns up. Real food words, not lectures.
Why it matters →Wherever you're headed
Pick your finish line.
10K, half, or the full marathon — Taper draws a line from today to the big day, one doable run at a time.
10K
Your first 10K
From the sofa to 10K in around 8–12 weeks. Three short runs a week — each one ends with “I could’ve done a bit more.”
21.1K
The half that sneaks up on you
21.1 km sounds enormous — until week nine, when your long run quietly gets there.
42.2K
The full 42.2
A few hundred unremarkable mornings, a plan that bends around your life, and a finish line with your name on it.
Chapter 01
Begin.
Most running apps talk to athletes. Taper talks to you — the person who isn't sure they can do this yet.
- Start from zero. Tell Taper where you are — even if that's “I've never run”. Your plan begins with runs you can actually finish.
- Life happens. Plans adapt. Missed a week? Caught a cold? Taper quietly reshapes your training — no red boxes, no broken streaks.
- One clear thing a day. Open the app, read one sentence, go run. The numbers live behind a tap, never in your face.
New to running?
The basics, in plain words.
Five things worth knowing before your first big miles — no jargon, just what each one is and why it helps.
01
Fuel
Your body only stores about 90 minutes of easy running. On anything longer, you top up as you go — a few sips of drink, a bite of something sweet.
Why it helps: it keeps the dreaded “wall” away, so the last miles can feel like the first.
02
Shoes
The one bit of kit that really matters. A pair that suits your feet cushions every step and stops small aches turning into injuries.
Why it helps: happy feet mean you actually look forward to your next run. Swap them roughly every 500–800 km.
03
Fartlek
Swedish for “speed play” — and that’s just what it is. Jog easy, pick up the pace to a lamppost or a tree, then ease off again. No stopwatch, just feel.
Why it helps: it teaches your legs to change gear and makes faster running feel natural — and a little fun.
04
Intervals
Short, faster efforts with a rest between each: push for a minute or two, jog to recover, repeat. A little more structured than fartlek.
Why it helps: these bursts build your engine, so your everyday easy pace starts to feel easier.
05
Strength
A couple of short sessions a week — squats, lunges, calf raises, a plank. No gym needed, just your own body weight.
Why it helps: stronger legs and hips hold your form together when you’re tired — which is exactly when injuries sneak in.
Taper folds all of this into your plan — you’ll pick it up a run at a time, never all at once.
Chapter 02
The coach who gets it.
Taper watches your training, your sleep and your recovery — then tells you what it means in one calm sentence.
- Morning readinessA gentle “good to go” or “take it easy” each morning, based on how you've actually recovered.
- Monday check-insYour coach reviews the week and quietly sets up the next one. No data digging.
- A journal that listensJot how a run felt. Your coach reads between the lines and adjusts.
- Nudges, not nagsNotifications that arrive when they're useful and stay quiet when they're not.
Chapter 03 Beta
Your stride, seen.
Until now, seeing your own gait meant one thing: a specialist running shop, a treadmill and an appointment. Taper is bringing that analysis to a propped-up iPhone — run past it, and your form is studied frame by frame. All on your device; your videos never leave it.
Shop-grade. Pocket-sized.
No treadmill, no appointment, no queue — just you, your phone and twenty seconds of running. In beta now — free for beta runners while we tune it.
Plain words, not physio-speak. Cadence, stride and symmetry — explained like a friend would.
Spot niggles early. Small changes in your gait often show up before an injury does.
Feeds your readiness. Your form becomes part of one honest signal: is today a day to push, or to rest?
Chapter 04
The wall isn’t fitness. It’s fuelling.
Most first marathons fall apart at mile 18 for one reason: an untrained gut. Taper treats fuelling like a workout — you practise it for months, so race day holds no surprises.
Mile 18
where races are lost — and where Taper runners have a plan they've already rehearsed a dozen times.
- A plan, not a lectureWhat to eat and drink before, during and after each key run — in normal food words, grams-per-hour behind a tap.
- Train your gut like a muscleLong runs double as fuelling rehearsals, gradually building what you can take on board.
Chapter 05
From London,
with miles of love.
Taper is made by a runner in London — tested on Thames-side long runs, rainy commute jogs and one very humbling hill in Greenwich Park. If it can keep you going through a British winter, it can get you anywhere.
The app
Calm by design.
No dashboards shouting at you. No leaderboards. No ads. Just today's run, your coach's note, and how ready you are — in words first, numbers on tap.
Why I built this
Made by someone who needed it too.
I trained for my first marathon with a spreadsheet, a dozen open browser tabs and a low hum of panic. Every app I tried either shouted splits at me or assumed I already knew what a tempo run was.
So I built the coach I wish I'd had — calm, plain-spoken, and honest about the parts most plans gloss over: fuelling, recovery, and the days life gets in the way. It's made and tested on London's towpaths by one runner, not a growth team.
— The maker of Taper · One Bright Studio, London
The words of your first beta runners will live right here.
Want yours to be one of them? Join the beta →
- Made in Londonby one runner, tested on real long runs — not a growth team's roadmap.
- Your data stays yoursgait videos are analysed on your iPhone and never leave it.
- Free during the betano card, no ads, no spam — just your TestFlight link.
Before you ask
The honest answers.
I'm slow, and not very fit. Is this really for me?
Especially you. Taper is built for first-timers, not gym regulars — your plan starts from wherever you honestly are, even “I've never run.” The only pace that matters is one you can finish.
What happens if I get injured or miss a week?
Nothing breaks. No red streaks, no guilt trip. Taper quietly reshapes the plan around the time you actually have — and the stride check (in beta) helps you spot little niggles before they turn into injuries.
Why Taper instead of a human coach — or Runna, Nike Run Club, Couch to 5K?
A good human coach watches how you're doing and adjusts. That's exactly what Taper does — without the monthly fee or the scheduling. No leaderboards, no shouting, no plan that assumes you already know what a tempo run is. Just one calm sentence a day.
Do I need a running watch or special gear?
Just your iPhone. Taper reads from Apple Health if you let it, but nothing's required. The one thing worth buying is shoes that suit your feet — the app explains the rest, a run at a time.
How much time does it take each week?
Usually three runs, most of them short and easy. Taper bends around your week, not the other way round — the long run is the only one that slowly grows.
Which races can it get me ready for?
10K, half marathon, or the full 42.2 — and it builds backwards from your real race date, whether that's London in the spring or a local Sunday 10K. Give it the day; it draws the line from today.
It's free? What's the catch?
Free during the beta — no card, no ads, no mailing list. The trade is honest: you're an early runner, helping shape the app before it launches.
Your first start line
is waiting.
Taper is in free TestFlight beta on iPhone — a small group of first-timers shaping it before launch. There's room for you while the beta's open.
Free during beta · No card, no spam · We'll just send your TestFlight link.