A good friend of mine and his wife have decided to start running again (he was pretty decent with a 34min 10km) to get healthy again and lose a fair bit of weight.
She just had a baby so they’re looking for a stroller you can run with, with the requirement that it accommodates a car seat. They asked me if I had some ideas, but they just forgot I have no reason to buy a stroller.
Anyhow, anyone has suggestions?
The Baby Jogger Performance one with the 20 inch wheels is by far the best. We have owned several models, single and double and it is by far the best for running. People often say the bob ironman one is good but in comparison it is crap for running, better for shopping malls, not for running.
I run with a Bob 2x a week. It has an available attachment so that a car seat snaps in. So you can start using it no matter how small the kid is. Advise them that baby joggers can and do tip over if you’re (just hypothetically) bombing down a hill and hit a raised piece of concrete in the sidewalk. Left a pretty serious bump on my kids fore head in addition to my misc. dings and cuts.
When they get big enough to sit up a bit a lighter stroller would be nice, but it’s only temporary until the second kid comes and you upgrade to a double. Then it’s all “bring the pain”! The double with two kids is about 85lbs and slows me down about 2:00/mile on a somewhat hilly 4.5 mile loop near our home. Perfect handicapping so that my wife and I can run together.
I have a baby coming in about 2 months, and I’ve been doing a fair amount of research into strollers, including test driving some with borrowed babies. I personally prefer the Chariot models over the Baby Joggers and Bob strollers. I found having the child lower in the chariot made it feel more stable.
The chariot doesn’t work with a car seat though (there is a baby sling attachment you can buy for infants) but since you’re not suppose to run with a baby until they have fairly good neck control anyway that didn’t really concern me. I’m picking up a cheap stroller frame for our car seat (something like http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2266236) to use until he/she’s old enough to fit properly in the Chariot.
If they really want one that supports a car seat, I have a few friends how have the Bob Revolution and they’re quite happy with it (none of them run 34min 10km, though)
I think the BOB is the best all-round stroller. I’ve been using mine for about 1.5 years, and I’ve never felt it lacked as a running stroller. It folds up easily and goes in the car and has the car seat adaptor option. The chariot is just too bulky to be considered a do everything option. I’ve tried both, and yes the chariot is better for running, but not to the point where it made the running experience any more enjoyable.
I live in a hilly area with gravel roads, and the BOB works very well in these conditions.
A nice benefit of the chariot though is that you may want to consider using it as a bike trailer and use it skiing - you’ll need to buy the full kit for this though. Personally, I bought a separate bike trailer, and I find this works better as I don’t have to keep converting each time - I bike and fun often enough with my son where this would become annoying.
good info all, got a youngster on the way!
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa48/chrisgleason/LGtri09092.jpg
My 5k pr with this set up is 19:17. At least 100 pounds of kids and stroller. My wife runs with the kids in it most every day in the spring/summer/fall and I push on the weekends. You can fit a surprising amount of groceries underneath. She is now using it to drop off, pickup the kids at school and activities. Thing has 1000’s of miles on it. I need to replace the front tire for the second time.
IIRC correctly KDW has broken 19 but that was only with one kid. With a 34 min 10k your buddy could likely do some serious damage in the baby jogger division 
x2 for the bob
http://www.bobgear.com/strollers/stroller.php?product_id=4
.
A good friend of mine and his wife have decided to start running again (he was pretty decent with a 34min 10km) to get healthy again and lose a fair bit of weight.
She just had a baby so they’re looking for a stroller you can run with, with the requirement that it accommodates a car seat. They asked me if I had some ideas, but they just forgot I have no reason to buy a stroller.
Anyhow, anyone has suggestions?
Bob Revolution…had the kid in there at 3 months.
several threads on this, but the BOB revolution seems to be the hands down winner. I asked this before buying and have not been disappointed in the least. I love our pink BOB and love taking my now 2 year old with me. I actually like using the stoller everywhere.
I have a Bob Revolution in the box and my wife has our first in the belly! It’s the only stroller we intend to buy until the baby is big enough for an umbrella stroller. I looked at a bunch of others and the Bob was the best for “doing everything.”
Interesting thread for me. I searched threads here for this same question a few weeks ago, and most posters were Chariot CX? and Bob Ironman. I got the Bob Ironman stroller which came in today and I was in your situation. Put it together, I ran with the 9 month old for six miles. Its pretty good, I need to fix the tracking a bit.
If you are hardcore, I’d go with 20 inch wheels, instead of 16 inch. If you have room…
To me, the Bob Ironman, and the 475 20inch wheeled dollar baby jogger are serious enough. There’s an interesting one cheaper I think everyone likes, and On par with that, if there was one in stock, there’s a Schwinn Jogging stroller with 3 20 inch wheels for about 280 dollars. I bought that at first but the vendor was out of stock. Its made by in-step but sold under schwinn, you will see it if you google, real low to the ground like the chariot and can be converted to a bike trailer.
If you have the dough, the best is probably the chariot, but get ready to shell it out.
I love our chariot double. Haven’t tried a Bob, is might be just as good, but it’s not often I pony $600 up and think it was well spent.
Thanks all for the info…and that way, when it’s my turn, I know what to get 
.
I thought BOB carefully stipulates that you shouldn’t RUN or JOG while using the car seat adapter.
It is just so you can use the Bob as a regular stroller until the kid is big enough to sit up.
Our pediatrician (and everything I could find to read about it) said not to use the running stroller until the kid can strongly hold up his head on his own.
I know all kids are different and parents all have a different ideas about these sort of things… I’m just sharing what I had learned.
That said. We use the Ironman Bob because it was marketed as the “fastest and lightest” in the Bob line – and I thought the highly visible bright yellow color was good.
We have been very happy with the stroller.
I also considered the Bob Sport Utility Stroller because the rugged type wheels may be better for the gravel trails we run on.
I saw no need for the releasable front wheel of the Bob Revolution – but now it seems like that would have been good for everyday (non-running) use – when you are running though, you lock that front wheel in place.
**Running along the Chattahoochee River **
I’ve got a single and double Chariot CX… great strollers for running, or with the conversion kits biking or x-country skiing.
Can’t put a car seat in them, but the infant sling works quite well.
Pricey, but they seem to have good resale value for when they are no longer needed.
I have a baby coming in about 2 months, and I’ve been doing a fair amount of research into strollers, including test driving some with borrowed babies. I personally prefer the Chariot models over the Baby Joggers and Bob strollers. I found having the child lower in the chariot made it feel more stable.
The chariot doesn’t work with a car seat though (there is a baby sling attachment you can buy for infants) but since you’re not suppose to run with a baby until they have fairly good neck control anyway that didn’t really concern me. I’m picking up a cheap stroller frame for our car seat (something like http://www.toysrus.com/...p?productId=2266236) to use until he/she’s old enough to fit properly in the Chariot.
If they really want one that supports a car seat, I have a few friends how have the Bob Revolution and they’re quite happy with it (none of them run 34min 10km, though)
This strikes me as funny! Do parents just readily lend you their babies???
The Bob is the last (single) child stroller we will ever have to buy.
Both because it is effin amazing and I’m done having kids.
This strikes me as funny! Do parents just readily lend you their babies???
I’m a trustworthy guy… I borrow babies all the time, and almost all get returned in the same condition I got them in.
To be more accurate, friends have let me borrow their kid and stroller to test drive.
I think what you’re really doing is trolling for women in the park!
(although I find that puppies work better since having a young child draws them in, but simultaneously causes them to assume you are married).