The idea behind Runmaka

People ask me where the idea for www.runmakavr.com came from... In September 2020 my oldest mate (Neil) and myself cycled the C2C from Whitehaven to Sunderland and back, in memory of Neils wife Lorraine, who had passed away from cancer in May 2020.
 
On the first night, I was introduced to Brad (co-founder) who had accompanied Neils daughter Emily to Kendal to see us off. Brad had recently finished University at Southampton Solent. He explained that he had been involved with Virtual Reality in football. I struggled to understand how that might work, so many moving parts etc... and was less than enthused. However, over the next few painful days (some serious hills and a dodgy bit of paving in Sunderland) I found myself thinking more and more about how Virtual Reality could work in cricket.
 
Essentially, bar the odd pre-delivery motion, the batter is still and the delivery is the key. If we could replicate that, surely the batter can train effectively? On returning from the cycle Brad and I started our research and found plenty of games, but nothing focused on how Virtual Reality might help batters train new skills or practice known ones. The one thing that seemed most 'unreal' and off putting was the bowlers run up and bowling action.
 
I decided to look at baseball and noticed the role of the pitcher. It was then that I realised the sidearm delivery could replicate the pitcher, as side-arming has become a staple form of a coaching session now. This would reinforce the training mindset we were seeking and ensure there is a continued focus on training / practice. We considered bowling machines, but the sidearm delivery offers the batter a cue and we therefore pursued this approach.
 
And now we had the basis of the idea, it was then that the journey began in earnest...