It’s a familiar problem for runners, especially distance runners. You’re about to embark on a long run, and you want your credit card, a tissueor a house key. But with your arms swinging and feet slapping the pavement, where exactly is this stuff supposed to go?
Women tend to tuck small items against their back, held in place by a sports bra, and both genders can be observed tugging damp, just-in-case cache out of sweaty socks.
Cliftonites Bev Perrea and Beth Koenig, chatting at their sons’ sports events, decided there had to be a better way for athletes to carry essentials. Starting with the fanny pack in mind, they came up with a few ground rules: no zippers, no Velcro, no trim. In other words, a more chic way to carry essentials while working up a sweat.
The pair launched
BANDI, offering its signature sleek, stretchy brands without Velcro, zippers or trim to ladies (and some guys) on the move. “We were determined not to have any of those bulky, cumbersome trims on our product, and we wanted something very low profile," Perrea says. "That’s what makes our product so unique.”
The product – now available as a waistband or headband in a number of solid and print patterns -- took some 18 months to develop, including sourcing a manufacturer.
“We had looked in many different places,and we had found somebody in New York who would work with us. She sent samples out to the Dominican Republic, and we had some samples sent to China and different places in the U.S., but when it came down to it, we got the best price and quality here in our backyard,” Koening says, reporting that BANDI is fabricated at a factory in Kentucky.
BANDI is currently available online, as well as at Findlay Market on Saturdays, and during the 2012 Columbus, Ohio and Chicago marathons.
By Robin Donovan