Unique running product ideas

My GPS is too heavy.

Good point, have you seen the new forerunner though, they are getting lighter and sleeker. I can guarantee they have some light ones in development. A little to much of a niche market to enter there.

Edible arm warmers

a lighter belt for my water bottles for my 5K's

with a pepper spray holder too

shoes with headlights

a harness attachment for the pace-group leader to wear so he will not have to carry the flag during the mary's and half-mary's

better tasting GU

iPod ear buds that stay in during intervals (I now use tape to hold them in place)

A long overdue running product is the Champion Chip accesory. This product will prduce a signal to shave off a desired amount of time from your automatically reported race times. You can market different levels of the product depending on the amount of improvement the runner seeks.

Super-soft, perfectly sized c0cks0cks that won't slip and cause discomfort on long runs and face masks that don't interfere noticeably with breathing would be wonderful to have in January.

Can you elaborate on this a little more?

Running shorts with a built-in catheter tube and bag.

--Gel flask that clip onto your shorts.

-- Small, light runner's camera (clips on shorts) or some some sort of video camera you could wear on your head to record what you see. Don't know how many times I've been out running and wished I had a camera. Putting it in your pocket is a bit cumersome. Or how about a small runner-friendly, affordable camera/phone?

--GPS chip tracker (if you go missing)

--Spring-loaded dispenser for glucose tablets (also clips on your shorts). I don't believe a quarter dispenser is big enough (?).

--Lighter shoes, no heal lift, minimal midsole (or none at all), and actually fit the shape of feet in the toebox (wide, not curved or tapered).

--A hat with a longer bill, so you can tip your head down and block the sun (amazing how many major companies make the bill too short to do this).

--A Coca cola/Gatorade Endurance Formula sports beverage (powder) made with REAL sugar cane, caffeine, and containing minerals (calcium and magnesium). Natural ingredients, and nothing weird.

--I hate it when my shoes and socks get wet in the winter from running in slushy snow/mud/icy water. I collect and cover my socks with fruit bags. If there's a better solution, I'd appreciate it.

Ok, that's all I can think of at the moment. Might post more ideas if I think of some.

Keep them comin guys!!!! Great stuff.

Barefoot shoes.

You asked for unique, but I would like to see just more basic items. I think there is a big market for simple items like socks, gloves, shorts and shirts.

The market seems saturated with $15 socks, $25 gloves, $50 shorts and $40 shirts.

Pretty good options exist for these, but they are never all in one place. Or they are on a place where it is rather difficult to find just socks, like Eastbay. Or there are just too many styles to select from. Our local shop sure doesn't carry the inexpensive stuff and often stuff like the cheap cotton gloves are too cheap.

So I say have a budget online running shop with limited choices with basic running staples.

Here's a product for you. I'm sure you've seen the treadmills with the small, integrated tvs directly attached. These ones are around 12-14 inches or so.

First, you'd need a larger screen, maybe 16-18 inches or so. Then you integrate your software with the treadmill. Now, the software is really the product. This software would come preloaded with major marathon courses throughout the U.S. and the world. Imagine a video of a "google street view" of NYC, London, Boston, etc. You could then impose "virtual" runners so the video would kind of give the feel of running the actual race.

Like I said, the software would be integrated into the treadmill, so the treadmill's inclination would change to match the actual elevation profile of the "marathon" you're running. You could also synch things up with a scale factor if someone only wanted to run 6 miles, the video would play back at a speed so that you'd finish the marathon course video when you finished your 6 miles.

Not sure if that's the kind of thing you're looking for. It's pretty tech-intensive and I can think of a lot of reasons why it might not be profitable. But, there you go.

How about wireless ear buds for your ipod? Why haven't these been made readily available?

How about running shorts with a useful liner? Most running shorts feel like bathing suits with super loose liners. i don't understand how companies like Brooks make Runderwear but fail to actually create a liner that is supportive.

To this day, i have only had one pair of shorts that didn't need to be supplemented by underwear. These were my racing shorts in college - sophomore year XC. Made by nike. I never found another pair like them. We were issued a new uniform that Spring, and i just used them as training shorts. They died about 3 years ago to my dismay.

Why don't you run in compression shorts?

555 wrote:

Why don't you run in compression shorts?

Because they are for gays.

Ha, another immature runner!

Because they are for gays.[/quote]

Elton John is a gay.