What makes a jogging stroller a jogging stroller? The standard, 4-wheeled baby jogger has certainly been used for jogging in past years. Those runs had to be carefully planned to cover only flat, smooth surfaces, and great care had to be taken in securing and padding the child while you ran, because the stroller had a tendency to skitter every which way on the path due to its shopping cart wheels.

Over the past decade, a new breed of baby buggy has evolved with three large fixed wheels, shocks, 5-point safety harnesses and drink holders for the child. Since our last stroller review in 2002, the jogging stroller has continued to develop, and the models available today offer unprecedented ease of use and safety, both for the runner and the rider.

Of course, one person's improvement is another person's scourge. And anyone who has ever tried to find the "regular" kind of toothpaste on the grocery shelves knows that having lots of options just makes decisions that much more complicated. In this guide, we break down choosing a stroller into the major variables that can make a stroller just what you're looking for or the next-best-thing-that-falls-just-short. Then we'll take a look at a selection of strollers that is available today and give you some tips for getting started running with your new stroller.

THE BREAKDOWN