The Bionic Runner, which has been funded after just five days on the crowd funding platform Kickstarter, is set to challenge the way runners conventionally think about their training, and promises to prevent injury thanks to its non-impact, closed kinetic
Brisbane, 7 December 2014 – It may have started life in the back of a converted shipping container in far northern Queensland, but this week the Bionic Runner proved a hit on a global scale, with funders from Asia, the US and Europe, not-to-mention Australia, all jumping on board to fund this unique fitness trainer via Kickstarter.
“We’ve spent four years designing and perfecting the Bionic Runner, so to see it so instantly resonate with the running community on a global scale is a dream come true,” says Steve Cranitch, co-founder of Run4, the Australian start-up company behind the Bionic Runner.
Originally conceived as a means of helping prevent injuries in runners – whilst also assisting those with running injuries get back into their training and maintain their fitness without causing further damage – the Bionic Runner took four years to develop and is the world’s only non-impact fitness trainer to mimic the natural gait and timing of running.
Unlike a mobile elliptical trainer such as the ElliptiGO, the Bionic Runner has a unique patent-pending 60% swing and 40% stance phase timing, which guides the foot along the path of a mid-foot running gait. The result? You not only look and feel as if you’re running, you engage the same muscles as you would pounding the pavement, too, separating the Bionic Runner from any cross trainer on the market.
“We discovered that running was a four stage process of leap, recovery, impact and drive,” explains Dr Henry Thomas, Chief Technical Officer and Co-founder of Run4. “The existing cross trainers were all elliptical in nature or step machines. None captured the motion a runner’s leg makes when they move.”
There’s no doubt the Bionic Runner is filling a gaping hole in the running industry, as runners from around the world have sent messages of support since the Runner went on sale via Kickstarter on December 1. Whilst sports shoes have attempted – and claimed – to alleviate the rate of running injuries for the past 40 years, there has been little actual change in the statistics.
Indeed, whilst an estimated 60 million people around the world are thought to enjoy running, a massive 70 per cent will go on to suffer a running related injury each year. Of course, for those training for a race, the risk of injury heightens with the additional number of miles put in towards the end of training.
“The injury rates incurred by runners always struck us as alarming,” says Steve, who witnessed a number of his friends abandon running altogether and instead turn to cycling. “For people who love running, cycling isn’t really an adequate alternative, so we set out to find a way for runners to improve their training and remove the risk of injury.”
Thanks to its non-impact closed kinetic chain, with the Bionic Runner Steve and Henry have successfully managed to eliminate the risk of injury from impact fatigue and joint over extension – the two most common causes of joint, tendon and muscle-related strain injuries.
“With the Bionic Runner, you can push yourself harder in training than you normally would running – increasing fitness, strength and endurance so that, on race day, you’re not only fit, but faster,” says Steve.
Launched on December 1 via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, it took just five days for Steve and Henry to reach their funding goal. It took just 12 hours for them to then double this goal.
Perhaps this success is in part down to the fact that the claims made by the Bionic Runner are backed by research published in peer-reviewed journals. Collected over the last year, data published in the Australian Journal of Strength and Conditioning shows that, whether using the Bionic Runner for interval, Fartlek, tempo or hill sessions, the runner offers the same intensity as conventional running – without the risk of injury from over extension or impact fatigue.
The Bionic Runner will remain available on Kickstarter until December 31. “We’re thrilled so many runners appreciate our vision and our hard work, and we just want as many people to benefit from this unique technology as possible,” concludes Steve.
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