Sedentary lifestyles and lack of physical activity place a financial burden on health services. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends people to increase levels of physical activity, more than 80% of adolescents and 27% of adults do not meet such WHO recommendations (Global status report on physical activity, 2022). Running is an activity of particular interest when considering the design of interventions to promote physical activity (Scheerder, J. et al., 2015). However, many interventions do not reach their expected long-term impact, primarily because people fail to maintain active behavior (Dombrowski et al., 2014). To improve the impact of such intervention programmes, research suggests providing personalised interventions (Oinas-kukkonen, Harjumma, 2009). That is, using tailored persuasive/motivational technology, which is designed to be interactive to positively influence users' attitudes, beliefs, and behavior to reach given goals (Orji et al., 2018). This study aims at better understanding the needs of runners when it comes to the design of motivational interactive applications on phones and smartwatches. As part of a participatory design approach (Elizabeth Rosenzweig, 2015) for the design of a motivational mobile application involving potential users, individual interviews were carried out to gather information on perceived runners' needs and expectations. Ultimately, the future motivational application designed with a user-centered design approach and based on psychological theories of motivation, behavior change, emotional regulation, and personality aims at the implementation of effective personalized interventions to increase adherence and maintenance to running (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Higgins, 2012).