Elite ultra runner, Kerrie Otto de Grancy, pushes through injury thanks to the Bionic Runner
Announcement posted by run4 12 Dec 2014
Australian ultra runner and record holder, Kerrie Otto de Grancy, reveals she used the Bionic Runner to train through injury ahead of the recent 100km World Championships in Qatar
Brisbane, 12 December 2014 – Ranked number one all time fastest Australian female in 50km distance and with three Australian records to her name, there’s no denying Kerrie Otto de Grancy is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to endurance running. Injury, however, can strike at any time, and an earlier strain recently threatened to overshadow Kerrie’s chances of competing in the 100km World Championships in Qatar.
CAPTION: Kerrie Otto de Grancy reveals she used the Bionic Runner to maintain fitness in the face of injury in the lead up to the 100km World Championships in Qatar
With just weeks until race day, Kerrie decided to push through the strain with the help of the Bionic Runner, the world’s first non-impact, running specific fitness trainer, rather than losing valuable time and hindering her race preparation by sitting out and waiting for the strain to heal.
“Ironically the Bionic Runner couldn’t have arrived in my hands at a better time,” says Kerrie. “I literally started using the Bionic Runner one week after an old sprain caused a series of issues in my foot, preventing me from running. I was petrified and kept this news between my medical supports, my mentor Patrick Farmer, my coach Chris Truscott and I.”
Whilst Kerrie was able to keep up her strength work and yoga, running was out of the question, as even walking was proving difficult for her.
“I dedicated the majority of my training time in the last three weeks before the 100km World Championships to training on the bionic runner,” she says. “This enabled me to clock up the kilometres and time on my legs that I needed without impact, allowing my foot to heal.
“Psychologically this alone was invaluable, not to mention the maintenance of my fitness and ability to use the same biomechanics as If I was pounding the pavement on foot.”
For the creators of the Bionic Runner, Steve Cranitch and Henry Thomas, Kerrie’s story is proof they’ve achieved what they set out to, four years ago, when the concept of the Bionic Runner was conceived.
“In the running community, Kerrie’s story is all too common,” says Steve. “The miles you need to put in in the lead up to race day puts such a strain on the body that it’s certainly not uncommon to wind up injured or unfit on the day you need to be performing at your best.”
Ultimately, Steve and Henry believed there must be a better way for runners to train – not only for races but everyday – and spent four years developing the Bionic Runner, which was launched on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter at the beginning of this month.
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 is the world’s only non-impact fitness trainer to mimic the natural gait and timing of running.
Unlike a mobile elliptical trainer, 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. This means you not only look and feel as if you’re running, you engage the same muscles as you would hitting the road, 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.”
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.
For Kerrie, the Bionic Runner came into its own post-race, too.
“After the 100km event, the same foot wasn’t happy,” she recalls. “I wasn’t able to run on my foot for 19 days after my race. I feel at an advantage that I was able to ease back into running and allow my body to recover properly by alternating between the Bionic runner, road and track running.”
The Bionic Runner will remain available on Kickstarter until December 31. And, whilst there’s a clear advantage to be had by the injured runner, Kerrie also points out the other advantage of the Bionic Runner. “It’s fun and breaks up the monotony of pounding the pavement day in and day out,” she says. ENDS
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1032540393/the-bionic-runner-run-harder-land-safe
Contact information:
For all press enquiries please contact +61 (0) 430 925028 or email lizzy@run4.com
Times of availability: 9am-7pm EST or by appointment.
More information can be found at: www.run4.com
CAPTION: Kerrie Otto de Grancy reveals she used the Bionic Runner to maintain fitness in the face of injury in the lead up to the 100km World Championships in Qatar
With just weeks until race day, Kerrie decided to push through the strain with the help of the Bionic Runner, the world’s first non-impact, running specific fitness trainer, rather than losing valuable time and hindering her race preparation by sitting out and waiting for the strain to heal.
“Ironically the Bionic Runner couldn’t have arrived in my hands at a better time,” says Kerrie. “I literally started using the Bionic Runner one week after an old sprain caused a series of issues in my foot, preventing me from running. I was petrified and kept this news between my medical supports, my mentor Patrick Farmer, my coach Chris Truscott and I.”
Whilst Kerrie was able to keep up her strength work and yoga, running was out of the question, as even walking was proving difficult for her.
“I dedicated the majority of my training time in the last three weeks before the 100km World Championships to training on the bionic runner,” she says. “This enabled me to clock up the kilometres and time on my legs that I needed without impact, allowing my foot to heal.
“Psychologically this alone was invaluable, not to mention the maintenance of my fitness and ability to use the same biomechanics as If I was pounding the pavement on foot.”
For the creators of the Bionic Runner, Steve Cranitch and Henry Thomas, Kerrie’s story is proof they’ve achieved what they set out to, four years ago, when the concept of the Bionic Runner was conceived.
“In the running community, Kerrie’s story is all too common,” says Steve. “The miles you need to put in in the lead up to race day puts such a strain on the body that it’s certainly not uncommon to wind up injured or unfit on the day you need to be performing at your best.”
Ultimately, Steve and Henry believed there must be a better way for runners to train – not only for races but everyday – and spent four years developing the Bionic Runner, which was launched on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter at the beginning of this month.
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 is the world’s only non-impact fitness trainer to mimic the natural gait and timing of running.
Unlike a mobile elliptical trainer, 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. This means you not only look and feel as if you’re running, you engage the same muscles as you would hitting the road, 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.”
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.
For Kerrie, the Bionic Runner came into its own post-race, too.
“After the 100km event, the same foot wasn’t happy,” she recalls. “I wasn’t able to run on my foot for 19 days after my race. I feel at an advantage that I was able to ease back into running and allow my body to recover properly by alternating between the Bionic runner, road and track running.”
The Bionic Runner will remain available on Kickstarter until December 31. And, whilst there’s a clear advantage to be had by the injured runner, Kerrie also points out the other advantage of the Bionic Runner. “It’s fun and breaks up the monotony of pounding the pavement day in and day out,” she says. ENDS
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1032540393/the-bionic-runner-run-harder-land-safe
Contact information:
For all press enquiries please contact +61 (0) 430 925028 or email lizzy@run4.com
Times of availability: 9am-7pm EST or by appointment.
More information can be found at: www.run4.com