Garmin - the Runners Marmite?

The Garmin it seems is either loved by runners or hated by them. Within the running community there is a distinct divide between those who religiously rely on their beloved Garmin and those who passionately dismiss them as inaccurate pieces of junk. To be honest I fall into the first of the two categories and would now be lost without my Garmin and I will explain why.

As an athlete I like to know exactly what pace I am running at to ascertain my level of performance, so why not use technology to establish this? I am fully aware that in days gone by that much better runners than myself have lived without a Garmin and they did just fine. But, if they had access to modern day technology I am sure that many of them would have made use of it. I also accept that knowing what pace you are running at for every mile will not make you a better runner. But, in turn running at the correct pace that you have pre-determined in your schedule will only be of benefit.

Those on the other side of the fence will argue that a runner should simply listen to his body and run accordingly. I agree, but there are definitely runs when you head out of the door feeling awful but often if you push through the first mile then things suddenly are not so bad. Then again there are those days when your body just refuses to function, but at least the Garmin will be on hand to alert you to this fact and the runner can adjust their run if necessary. I accept it is hard to try and not push yourself too hard when you notice things are not going to plan, but that is the challenge of the sport we love and not the fault of the Garmin.

One thing that I do agree with the Garmin 'haters' on is the use it for measuring the accuracy of a race over a set distance. If your Garmin shows that a 10k is actually 9.96k then it does not mean the race is short. If a runner slightly cuts a corner or in turn weaves through a field of other runners of course your Garmin is going to give a slightly different recording to the distance of the race, so please stop the whinging.

Another argument in the anti-Garmin army's weaponry is that the Garmin is too bulky to run with - this is no longer the case. Fans of previous models of the Garmin will notice a significant difference in the new model as it is now much sleeker and lighter. Similarly those that argue that the Garmin loses signal when running through trees or near tall buildings are also fighting a losing battle. This is due to the fact that the latest Garmin has a highly-sensitive GPS receiver that makes the signal received much stronger than other GPS units on the market.

Admittedly the Garmin does have its faults with its price tag, the bezel that is too-sensitive and the masses of complicated settings that will never be used. But, it is an extremely successful piece of kit for runners who want to keep an eye on how they are performing. But, whether you love it or hate it, the Garmin will be around on the running scene for a long time to come.