Trail runner on an alpine ridge

The Story

Built by an ultrarunner,
for ultrarunners

UltraCoach exists because the tools we needed didn't. So we built them.

The Why

Lawrence Hester is the founder of UltraCoach. He co-founded FareHarbor, scaling it from a family business into the leading booking platform for tours and activities before it was acquired. He is now the CEO of Expedition, FareHarbor's largest competitor.

Now based in Milan, Italy, he's channeling the same relentless energy into ultramarathon running and building the tools he wished existed.

His ultra journey started with the Bear Chase 100K in Colorado in 2017. Since then he's progressed through Lavaredo 120K and finished UTMB in 2025 — 172km around Mont Blanc through rain, mud, and the deepest pain cave he'd ever entered. He trains before his kids wake up, follows macros religiously, and believes the same grit that builds companies builds ultrarunners.

Crossing the finish line at an ultramarathon

The Problem

Existing training apps don't understand ultras. They generate static plans that break the moment you miss a workout. They don't adapt to your Whoop recovery data. They don't know what Minetti gradient-adjusted pacing means.

They can't build a crew plan or a race-day nutrition strategy from a GPX file. They treat a 50-mile mountain race the same as a road marathon.

The best ultrarunners rely on expensive human coaches who may only check in once a week. Everyone else gets a PDF and good luck.

Static plans that don't adapt
No recovery data integration
Road marathon pacing models
No race-day strategy tools
Runner pushing through scree below jagged peaks

The Solution

UltraCoach is the AI-powered training platform Lawrence wished he'd had for UTMB — one that prescribes, measures, and adapts in a closed feedback loop. Not a static PDF. A living system that gets smarter with every workout.

It syncs your Whoop, Strava, and Garmin data. It builds periodized training plans that auto-adjust when you miss a session or come back from injury. It calculates gradient-adjusted pace splits for your exact GPX course. It generates race-day nutrition timing down to the gel.

1

Prescribe

AI-generated plans tuned to your race, body, and schedule

2

Execute

Sync workouts, log nutrition, track recovery in one place

3

Adapt

Automatic plan adjustments based on your actual response

Trail runner powering uphill on rocky terrain

Going Back

UTMB 2026 is next. Lawrence is building UltraCoach while training for it — eating his own cooking, testing every feature on himself before it ships to anyone else.

Every morning briefing, every macro target, every plan adaptation is something he uses first. If it doesn't make him a better ultrarunner, it doesn't ship.

The goal is simple: build the best training platform in ultrarunning, and prove it works at the biggest race in the world.

Runner on the trail near Tre Cime

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