CRTS-PM Certification

What This Credential Actually Is

The Certified Running Technique Specialist (Pose Method), shown on this site as CRTS-PM, is a Level 1 credential issued by the Romanov Academy of Sports Science. The issuer's own materials abbreviate it simply as CRTS, and some pages style the organization as the Romanov Academy of Sport Science. The "-PM" suffix and the domain name are retained here exactly as supplied. If you are new to the acronym, our explainers on what CRTS-PM certification is and what CRTS-PM stands for cover the naming in more depth.

The credential is built around the Pose Method of running, a technique-focused approach to how a runner uses gravity, elasticity and cadence. Candidates are tested on conceptual knowledge, on recognizing correct and faulty technique, and on applying that knowledge to drills and video. It is a technique credential, not a general fitness or endurance-coaching qualification, and that distinction shapes everything about how you should prepare.

Two Similar Names, Two Different Issuers

One of the most common sources of confusion is that more than one organization offers something called a Certified Running Technique Specialist. The credential discussed on this page is the Romanov Academy's Level 1 Pose Method certification. It is not The Running School's similarly named credential, which is a separate program with its own curriculum, exam and fees.

Why this matters for candidates: study materials, price quotes and exam descriptions you find online may belong to the other program. Before you buy anything or memorize a cost figure, confirm that the page you are reading refers to the Romanov Academy exam. The Running School's program and the RRCA coaching certification are legitimate comparison points if you are choosing between credentials, but they should not be mixed into your preparation for this exam.

Exam Format: 106 Questions, 90 Minutes

The certification exam contains 106 questions in total. Of those, 90 are scored and 16 are unscored. You have 90 minutes, and a 75% score is required to pass. The unscored items are not identified to you, and the issuer's examination page and handbook differ on where those items are placed, so there is no reliable way to spot them by position. Treat every question as if it counts.

Published formats and categories include:

• True/false
• Matching
• Multiple choice
• Basic Drills
• Video Analysis
• A Running 101 keyword-completion essay

The issuer's pages contain inconsistent section numbering, so this article deliberately does not claim a section-by-section question allocation. What you can rely on is the 106/90/16 total and the list of formats above. A rough time budget is just under one minute per question across the whole exam, which means the essay and video items deserve a plan before you start, not improvisation mid-sitting. For a deeper look at difficulty, see how hard the CRTS-PM exam really is, and for scoring specifics read what you need to pass.

Open Book Does Not Mean Open Navigation

The current certification portal expressly permits personal notes, printed or handwritten materials, and the Internet. The issuer's resources page likewise permits notes and printouts. That is genuinely helpful, but two cautions apply.

First, open-book access does not waive proctoring or confidentiality rules. The exam is delivered on the Romanov Academy online certification portal, which describes AI and live proctoring on your computer. You are still being monitored, and you are still bound by the issuer's confidentiality terms, which means you should not copy, share or distribute exam content.

Second, and more consequentially, you must finish in a single sitting and cannot return to earlier questions, change previous answers, skip items or flag them for later review. Every answer is final the moment you submit it. This changes how an open-book exam should be approached:

• Build a compact, indexed notes sheet so you can look up a definition in seconds rather than minutes.
• Do not plan on "coming back" to hard items; decide, answer and move on.
• Rehearse with a timer so you know how long a lookup costs you.

Eligibility and the Identification Conflict

Formal eligibility requires that you are 18 or older, hold a high-school diploma or equivalent secondary education, present two forms of identification, and accept the candidate agreement and professional standards. You may see marketing language stating "Prerequisites None." That statement does not override the formal eligibility requirements, so treat the eligibility page as the authority.

There is one unresolved discrepancy worth flagging. The current certification portal requests one valid ID, whereas the formal eligibility page requires two. This article retains that conflict rather than silently picking a side. The practical advice is simple: have two acceptable forms of identification ready, and confirm with the issuer before exam day if anything about the ID step is unclear. Our CRTS-PM requirements guide walks through the eligibility checklist in more detail.

The issuer recommends, but this article does not describe as mandatory for every candidate, its Pose Method of Running master course. That course carries 20 contact hours. Those hours describe training time, not examination time, so do not confuse them with the 90-minute exam.

The Five Content Areas You Should Master

This site organizes preparation around five content areas. Be aware of what these represent: they are unweighted preparation topics drawn from the issuer's master-course description, which states that the course prepares candidates for this exact certification. They are not an official exam blueprint, not an exhaustive list of what can be tested, and no percentage weights are published for them. Treat them as a sensible study structure rather than a promise about question counts. For a longer treatment, see the complete guide to the five content areas.

Using the Issuer's Study Material Groupings

Separately from the five areas above, the issuer's study-material page organizes preparation under four exact groupings: FOUNDATION, TECHNIQUE, VIDEO ANALYSIS, and ETC. These are an alternative resource organization, not a hidden nine-domain exam structure, and they are not a replacement for the five areas. Using both lenses together is the most reliable approach.

• FOUNDATION: Pose Method concepts and gravity.
• TECHNIQUE: cadence, muscle-tendon elasticity, stride length, range of motion and overstriding.
• VIDEO ANALYSIS: running-assessment examples.
• ETC.: the issuer's push-off discussion.

A useful mapping: FOUNDATION supports Biomechanics, TECHNIQUE supports Running technique and Movement retraining, VIDEO ANALYSIS supports Gait analysis, and the push-off discussion in ETC. is worth reading closely because it addresses a point that often comes up in technique debates. Only the public course description and public study materials were reviewed for this article, not the full paid master course, so neither list should be read as exhaustive coverage of the exam. For a full preparation roadmap, see our CRTS-PM study guide.

Original Practice: Video Analysis, Drills and Keyword Completion

Flashcards, such as the community decks on Quizlet, are useful for vocabulary but cover only part of what this exam asks. The format list includes three items that flashcards handle poorly: Basic Drills, Video Analysis and the Running 101 keyword-completion essay. Build practice for each.

Video Analysis practice

Record or find short clips of runners and write a brief analysis for each using a fixed template: what is the cadence impression, where is the foot landing relative to the body, is there visible overstriding, and what single cue would you give first? Doing this repeatedly trains you to produce a consistent, method-aligned observation quickly. Practice naming faults using the Pose Method vocabulary you will be tested on, not generic running-coach language.

Basic Drills practice

For each drill in your study materials, write one sentence on what it teaches, one sentence on the fault it addresses, and one sentence on how you would tell a runner is performing it correctly. If you can do that without looking, you can handle drill questions whether they are multiple choice or matching.

Running 101 keyword-completion practice

Write short explanatory paragraphs on core concepts such as gravity, cadence and elasticity, then reread them and underline the key terms an evaluator would expect. Because the exam is a keyword-completion essay, accuracy of the essential terms matters more than elaborate prose. Practice writing concise, term-rich answers under time pressure.

Costs, Retakes and Windows

Cost information for this credential is easy to get wrong, because different figures apply to different routes. Keep the following separate.

Two deadlines also need to stay separate. The handbook describes a one-year application and attempt window, while the seminar route has its own 30-day deadline for taking the exam after the seminar. These come from different sources and different routes, so no single universal deadline should be inferred. Check which route you are on before planning. Our CRTS-PM certification cost breakdown and exam dates and deadlines guide expand on this.

If you are in a military program, funding must be checked against your branch, program and approved start date. No universal funding entitlement, reimbursement amount or promotion-point award should be assumed, and none is promised here.

Scheduling Your Preparation Around the Content Areas

If you want a simple schedule, tie each week to a content area and finish with timed rehearsal. The order below builds from concepts toward application, because Video Analysis and drill questions depend on already knowing the vocabulary.

Adjust the length to your background. A candidate already coaching with the Pose Method may compress this considerably; a newcomer may need to extend the early weeks. The order matters more than the exact number of weeks.

Five-Year Validity and Recertification

Certification is valid for five years. Recertification requires active practice, the required continuing education and a recertification exam. You can renew before expiration or within 30 days afterward. The published recertification package is USD 295 and includes the required webinars. Plan renewal as part of your professional calendar from the start, because the 30-day grace period is short.

Career Value Without Inflated Claims

It is tempting to promise a salary jump from any coaching credential, but no certification-specific salary premium is established for this one, and none is claimed here. Likewise, no certification-wide pass rate is asserted. If you want to evaluate the credential honestly, think in terms of how it fits your existing work.

• Running coaches and personal trainers may use it to add a defined technique-assessment service to what they already offer.
• Military and tactical fitness professionals may encounter it through the seminar-linked route, subject to checking their program's rules.
• Physical therapists and movement professionals may value the shared vocabulary for observing running form, while remembering that this is a coaching-technique credential.

The credential's value comes from the clients you can serve and the credibility the issuer's name gives your technique work, not from a guaranteed pay increase. For a structured way to weigh this, read our ROI analysis, the salary guide and the overview of CRTS-PM jobs, all of which avoid inventing figures the sources do not support.

Frequently Asked Questions