diff --git a/adaptive/runner.py b/adaptive/runner.py
index ff3a137c3..46df5908a 100644
--- a/adaptive/runner.py
+++ b/adaptive/runner.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, Union
 
 import loky
+import nest_asyncio
 
 from adaptive import (
     BalancingLearner,
@@ -670,7 +671,15 @@ def __init__(
             raise_if_retries_exceeded=raise_if_retries_exceeded,
             allow_running_forever=True,
         )
-        self.ioloop = ioloop or asyncio.get_event_loop()
+        if ioloop is None:
+            try:
+                ioloop = asyncio.get_running_loop()
+                nest_asyncio.apply(ioloop)
+            except RuntimeError:
+                ioloop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+                asyncio.set_event_loop(ioloop)
+
+        self.ioloop = ioloop
         self.task = None
 
         # When the learned function is 'async def', we run it
@@ -847,6 +856,10 @@ async def _saver():
         self.saving_task = self.ioloop.create_task(_saver())
         return self.saving_task
 
+    def block(self) -> None:
+        """Block until the runner is finished."""
+        self.ioloop.run_until_complete(self.task)
+
 
 # Default runner
 Runner = AsyncRunner
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 12d6e7a6b..27fe5279a 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ def get_version_and_cmdclass(package_name):
     "sortedcontainers >= 2.0",
     "cloudpickle",
     "loky >= 2.9",
+    "nest_asyncio",
 ]
 if sys.version_info < (3, 10):
     install_requires.append("typing_extensions")