Can anyone recommend a good running distance gadget?

[bethisrunning]

I dont have a fancy phone (and am pretty sure I never will) so can anyone recommened a good watch or gadget for calculating distance etc that I can put on my amazon wishlist? I don't need anything fancy.

Beth

[shelleymcb Graduate]

ive just bought a garmin forerunner 110 watch & heart rate strap off ebay for £75. apparently you can see how far youve gone whilst you are running & then, once you get home it can be plugged into the computer to input things like pace, distance & even shows how high the hilly bits were!

mines not here yet so cant confirm this is all true

I know others on here are loving their garmin watches

[AliB1 Graduate in reply to shelleymcb]

I have a garmin forerunner 110, although didn't go for the heart rate bit. They are fab and easy to use (if i can use it anyone can). You can see distance, time and pace as you go. When you down load it shows all of the above, splits (time for each km /mile) and the map. Totally recommend it.

[Mirella Graduate]

After loads of research I've just asked for a Garmin 410HR. Unfortunately I don't get my grubby paws on it until a week Wednesday as its my birthday prezzie from doh. It was £150 on Amazon which is arounf half price. The 110 is £120 on Amazon and, for me, the extra bits like wireless transfer were worth the extra especially as its not me thats paying for it

The Garmin website has a comparison table so you can choose something that has the features you want and gives you and idea of the functions available if you want to look at other makes. The reveiws on Amazon are also a help in deciding.

[juicydee Graduate]

Hi Beth - if you want something cheaper than the above excellent suggestions, I'm getting used to my Nike+ Sportband (around £40) - it's basically a sophisticated pedometer with a sensor that goes in your shoe (or in a little pouch on your laces) that transmits to a watch-type device on your wrist. When you finish your run you take the USB bit out of the watch and connect to the Nike+ website via your PC - the site uploads and stores all the info from your runs so you can compare your progress.

I found calibrating the device a bit frustrating at first (you have to base it on a measured run and the system's rather fussy about the quality of said run!) but now I've done it it's matching well with routes I've pre-measured. The website also leaves a bit to be desired but it seems as if they're working on that.

In the meantime have you tried mapmyrun.com? Worth doing for routes you run often or to plan ahead for longer runs.

[Greg_M Graduate]

Garmin 110 for me as well, my constant companion.