Q&A With Tim Polanowski – Inventor of At Night Athletic
Is There A Demand For Lighted Running Shorts / Pants With A GPS Enabled Panic Alarm In Them?
by Robert Johnson
December 3, 2016
BALTIMORE — I recently was introduced to Tim Polanowski, one of the co-founders of At Night Athletic, a startup here in the Baltimore area that I’ve seen featured on tv and in the newspaper. The recreational runner always thought there wasn’t anything safe to run in at night after work and decided to solve the problem himself. Hence he’s started a company with his wife – At Night Athletic – that is currently looking for funding for its first products on Kickstarter.
The products are running shorts/tights that have tiny LED lights and a built-in GPS enabled panic alarm in them. You barely feel the lights at all but they keep you seen by cars. After you are done running, you can wash them like normal clothes. You can even put them in a drier.
The lights and alarm are powered by a snap on/off controller unit that is the size of a belt buckle and only weighs a few ounces. The controller unit houses the power source, the programming, and the safety features. The safety features are impressive. On the controller, there are buttons that, when pressed, turn your lights into a panic color (red), sound an audible alarm, and text your emergency contact/s to let them know of your location if you are in distress. Once the controller is removed, you can wash and dry the garments with the permanently fixed lights in them.
Here is a gif of a prototype of the product:
You can see the company’s Kickstarter page here.
At Night Athletic’s Kickstarter page is now live
And their website here:
Take a look at those pages and tell At Night Athletic what you think. Tim, the inventor of the products, has been given a LetsRun.com login and will be answering any questions you might have on the messageboard:
Oh, I almost forgot. While I know you all are used to getting stuff for free, technology like this doesn’t grow on trees. The cost is normally as follows:
$50 for the snap-on controller
$85 for the men’s shorts (so $135 total)
$135 for the women’s ¾ length “capris” (so $185 total)
But they’ve agreed to give LetsRun.com visitors a special discount between now and the end of the year. For helping the company during its infancy, LetsRun Kickstarter backers can purchase the LetsRun special and get the men’s shorts + controller at a $20 discount so $115 total for the men’s shorts + controller or the women’s capris at a $15 discount so $170 total for the women’s capris + controller. Shipping costs do apply.
So take a look and let Tim know what you think.