The Runbell Helps Runners Clear a Path

(Photo: Runbell)

When I'm running outside and I hear a bicycle bell, then I know that there's a rider behind me who wants to get by. But how do I pass by walkers easily without sounding obnoxious? Sometimes even saying (or gasping, in my case) "Good morning!" or "Coming up on your left!" doesn't get their attention.

The Runbell looks like a great solution. Kevin Nadolny and Tomoko Yano invented it to help them run through one of the largest cities in the world: Tokyo. It's a tiny bicycle bell that fits over two fingers. The user strums it with the thumb. It comes with silicone inserts so that it can be worn with or without gloves and still fit easily.

-via NotCot


Comments (7)

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Newest 5 Comments

No, the warning "on your left/right" is not for you, the walker or the person being passed, to move but to let them know that I, the runner who is passing you, is coming up on your right or left so don't go that way.

The rules of running is the same as with driving and sailing...the vehicle passing has to watch out for the one being passed.
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When I was a driving instructor, I found that roughly a third of people can't get their left and right sorted out reliably. I'd be very reluctant to ride past anyone assuming they had a) heard me, b) understood me, and c) got the right right.
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I find 'on your left' to be more rude than a simple ding from a bell. Whether someone decides to move is up to them - shared pathways and all, everyone has a right, but it is nice when people who are slower do get out of the way without me having to stop.
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Docking in mid-air is one of the last skills a skydiver learns on the way to receiving his "A" license. I had to repeat that lesson four times before I finally got it. I've been working on it with a friend of mine who's roughly the same skill level (most definitely not an instructor) for a couple of weeks and finally succeeded.

This is a really neat trick. As for the motivation--does "because it was there" still count for anything?
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Jason is talking about docking with another skydiver in freefall, obviously. That's a fundamental part of sport skydiving. Docking with a plane is not.

For anyone interested, I have some examples of freefall docking here, and you can see the original plane-chasing experiments and other nutty skydiving business on Joe Jennings' DVD "Good Stuff" at JoeJennings.com.
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