StrollRunner: Run Hands Free!

StrollRunner is a running belt to assist parents, who want to continue to run after they have kids, to run with strollers hands free!

Hi, I'm Heather - I'm a mother, I'm a runner, and I saw a need to fix a frustration I had when my daughter was born, and I attempted to run with her for the first time using a stroller - which lasted about 30 seconds.  I couldn't take it... not having the freedom to swing my arms was beyond frustrating and the run that I used to love so much became WORK. I vowed that I would find a better way.

There are mulitple problems that StrollRunner solves:

1) Holding onto a stroller and running is so unnatural  - it takes the fun and the mental therapy out of the run.

2) It can cause medical issues - running in an ergonomically incorrect form can cause all kinds of back and joint discomfort, and land you at the chiropractor.

3) You have to think about your run, which takes away from the mental benefits of running.

StrollRunner lets you get lost in your run. By attaching a belt to the runner, StrollRunner holds onto the stroller for you, so you have the freedom to run in a natural fashion and you don't have to think about the stroller in front of you. What we are really attempting to do is to give the parent the ability to steer the stroller without having your hands on the handle. The way it works is that there is a belt around you and a plastic component that is attached to the stroller (essentially an extra set of hands) that moves with your body to steer the stroller. The belt gives you the ability to steer and go for your run on a bike path or a road without haviing to steer it all the time. StrollRunner makes running with a stroller more ergonomically correct, lessening the possibility of back and joint issues, which all runners face.

Why did I invent this product? 

They say that necessity is the Mother of Invention, and this mother saw something that needed to be done. I am a runner who had a problem, and also had the benefit of being networked with brilliant engineers and product developers in Vermont. My first call was to Scott Roth, owner and engineer at Rothspeed (formerly of The Auto Shoppe), and he helped me develop the first prototype. From there, I hired an engineer to work on this full time, and Paul Henninge jumped on board. Paul and I developed mulitple prototpyes, and we got to a stage where I was able to file a provisional patent. The exciting next step is to take it to the public, get some feedback, and then finalize the design so we can take it to market!

Why am I crowdfunding?

I'm raising money on iFundWomen to be able to create these next set of prototypes to get to the public to test, and launch the business!

I'm asking for you to support the development of this needed product for stroller runners! We have some awesome rewards on our campaign, inlcuding being one of 10 beta testers for the product itself. So come run with us on this journey and thank you so much for suppporting women owned businesses in Vermont!