iRun - Untangle your life
Made BY Athletes, For Athletes
The entire iRun line of products are made BY athletes FOR athletes. And not just any athletes… the inventor and founder of iRun International is an active duty Marine that has been serving his country for more than 20 years.From the battlefields of Kuwait during Operation Desert Shield and Storm to the sands of Iraq and Afghanistan, he has been training his entire life. Having been trained in desert, mountain and cold weather survival and as a Combat Water Survival Instructor, he knows what it takes to survive in the harshest conditions on earth better than just about anyone and has designed the entire line of iRun products with one goal in mind….PERFORMANCE!
"I personally designed, tested, trained with and currently use every single one of the products on this site. After having run marathons, Ironman triathlons, snow and water skiing, snowboarding and scuba diving all over the world, I know what works and what doesn’t. From the specially designed earphones to the fit and function of my running hats and socks, these products will take everything you can throw at them and more." – Frank, inventor and founder
How It All Happened...
Use the tabs below to read through the story of how the iRun family of products was originally conceived.
Identified A Problem The Market Had No Solution For.
The concept for iRun International was started three years ago when I was training for the Honolulu Marathon in support of Team in Training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Hawaii. During the months-long training, I used an iPod digital media player to help take my mind off of the endless miles that comprise marathon training. However, during the innumerable hours on the road, I found that the earphones (ear buds) that come with the iPod, as well as the all of the aftermarket products available had one flaw... they were all too long. The industry standard length for a set of earphones is 40 inches (100 centimeters) and that posed a problem for me and many of the runners that I trained with.
From the constant tangling of the wires to the earphones being pulled out of my ear because of the tangling and weight of the wires being pulled down with each of the more than 1000 steps per mile, I was spending more time fumbling with wires than concentrating on running. And it wasn't just me. Everyone was having the same problems as I was, and we were all trading "secrets" of how to solve these problems. Everything from using paperclips to clamps, I tried everything to keep the wires from pulling and tangling, with nothing but temporary solutions.
"Nothing but temporary solutions. Until..."
That was until I began training for triathlons, and then it came to me. By this time, I had found a semi-permanent solution which was simply clipping my iPod Shuffle to the strap of my hat and wrapping the excessive wires around the strap to bring it to a manageable length. That was when the epiphany came; why wrap the wires to shorten them rather than shortening them permanently? So that is what I did. I bought a pair of cheap earphones, measured the distance from the back of my head and t-shirt to my ears, cut the wires and took the earphones apart. After some head scratching and soldering, I had it! My first prototype of what would become the iRun Performance Earphones.Finally here was a solution that worked and was permanent. And it was a simple design. Reduce the length of the wires to 28cm (11 inches) and eliminate the problem of tangling and twisting as well as the added mass of the wires which pulls the earphones out of your ears. I trained for triathlons and Ironman races using my prototype and it worked flawlessly. So I started the long process of research and development. I had NO DEA how long and difficult is was!
iRun is Born - Untangle Your Life.
Not only do these earphones work with the iPod products, to include iPhones, they are compatible with any digital media device that uses a standard 3.5mm headphone jack which is the standard for music headphones as well as just about every other electronic device.Along with the full line of iRun Performance Earphone products, we also have manufacturers for all of the accessories that runners, triathletes and consumers use on a daily basis. This includes running hats, Hybrid-Compression High-Performance socks as well as Elastic Race Laces and race belts. The iRun brand has everything that the serious athlete wants and needs to train to not only be successful, but competitive as well.
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