OUR FAVORITE THINGS

40 years of running-gear innovation.

PUBLISHED 09/15/2006

1968: PaceMaster 600 treadmill

By Brian Metzler

Breakthrough: Eliminated weather as an excuse not to run

Courtesy Aerobics, Inc.

Given how often it rains in Seattle, it's no surprise the treadmill was invented there. But running indoors wasn't what motivated University of Washington cardiologist Robert Bruce. He helped develop the first motorized treadmill in 1952 to evaluate the heart and lungs. It would be another 16 years before runners benefited. In the late '60s, entrepreneur Bill Staub began building commercial models, starting with the PaceMaster 600 (above). Recalls Gordon Boggis, CEO of Staub's original company, Aerobics, Inc.: "Bill said, 'Why shouldn't everyone have one?'"

Fresh Thinking: SportsArt's new home model, the TR33 ($3,999), poses the option "pavement or trail?" and features an adjustable deck (the material underneath the belt) that lets runners set the softness of the "terrain."

1989: Camelbak + Fuel Belt

By Kristin Baver

Breakthrough: Water fountain? Who needs a water fountain?

Courtesy Camelbak

In 1988, a cyclist and paramedic named Michael Edison, who was tired of fumbling with water bottles, rigged an IV to his back and sipped from the tube during Hotter 'n Hell 100 in Wichita Falls, Texas. The following year, fellow rider Roger Fawcett purchased the design, and Camelbak --with its sipping tube and 70-ounce bladder--hit the market. By 1997, Ironman triathlete Vinu Malik had tired of the bulk on his back, so he attached a few seven-ounce ergonomic water bottles to an elastic belt and launched Fuel Belt, giving runners another hands-free hydration option.

Fresh Thinking: Fuel Belt's 2007 model will be made with compressed foam to make it lighter and more comfortable to wear. Look for it in pink and sky blue.

1971: The Jones-Oerth Counter

By Joanna Sayago

Breakthrough: Guaranteed that your marathon wasn't 27.2 miles

In 1970, Alan Jones knew the course at the St. Christopher's Road Race near Vestal, New York, was short. "It was supposed to be a 20-K," says Jones, a retired IBM engineer. "But my time was too good." The next year, Jones became race director and set out to get the distance right. At the time, many race officials measured routes with a counter that recorded full rotations of a bicycle wheel. Jones redesigned the counter so that it recorded fractions of a rotation, thus measuring courses down to the last centimeter. Paul Oerth later bought the business. The Jones-Oerth Counter (left) is now the official measuring tool of USATF.

Fresh Thinking: Oerth's latest prototype attaches to a bike's handlebars instead of the wheel for easier viewing.