A funny thing happens when a lot of people sign up quickly for a Kickstarter project– the creators use the extra funding to reach for a “stretch goal,”  If you care anything about your running performance and want to avoid getting injured, you’ll want to read more and back this project!

On Saturday night (August 23), I got my Kickstarter project update.  I wanted to post this message then, but decided to hold off until Monday.  Why the delay?  Because I’ve sifted through my site’s analytics more often than I’d like to and wanted this one to hit the net just when most of you were online.

So if we are able to hit $100K, we’d like to add a little flare to your normal GPS maps. Instead of just showing you where you run, how cool would it be to see how your metrics vary throughout your run?

Apart from the geek factor, why is this such a big deal?    In my last post pointing to Nick Pang’s great review of the runScribe, I suggested that running mechanics may have a lot to do with the surfaces that you are running on.  Being able to see, for instance, that your G-Forces increased when you were on a pavement section of your run but decreased when you were running trails may help explain a lot about the differences between two runs– but seeing this data aligned with a map is even better.  Another cool use for this kind of data is to see how fatigue affected running mechanics.  For instance, late in a long run, mechanics tend to break down– hips tend to drop and there is likely a bit more pronation excursion going on.  At least that’s the theory– but again seeing where it happens on a map would be much cooler.

Being relatively new to the blogosphere, I’ve been following runScribe on a number of social media fronts.  All indications are that it is on fire!  Serious runners out there recognize the importance of this kind of data, enabling their project to get funded inside of 24 hours.  And unlike so many Kickstarter projects, this one has real prototypes that are being tested currently in real-world situations.  So get in on the ground floor by backing runScribe now!  You’ll get it cheaper than the commercial version down the road, get it months (years?) before anyone else, and you’ll be ensuring that the product is much cooler too!

I have no affiliation with runScribe and I don’t get any kickbacks or discounts.  I just know that when people as smart and straightforward as Steve Magness review and back a product, it’s got to be pretty darn good.  I backed it immediately upon reading Steve’s post (I’ve subscribed to his Science of Running blog for years)– and on reading this new post from runScribe, trying to “upgrade” my backing option.

Update (August 25): Less than an hour ago, I got an update from runScribe that they’ve hit their goal and are now on to a second stretch goal– standard ANT+ and BLE running profiles.  That would enable the runScribe to replace your Garmin, Wahoo, or other footpod when you’re running on a treadmill (giving you the same data on your running watch) and still collect biomechanics data that is light years ahead of any other product on the market.  The features just keep coming as the running community shows its love for runScribe.

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