The Forerunner watches are regarded as the best GPS running watches on the market by athletes from all walks of life, an oppinion we think is richly deserved.

The Garmin Forerunner 610 takes the advanced features of previous Forerunner watches and goes one better! The new watch has removed the old touch bezel and replaced it with advaned tap-screen technology that makes the watch easier to use than ever before. The upgrade also adds the benefits of heart-rate based training effect, an indicator of how beneficial a session is to improving your fitness, allowing you to determine the right level to train at for personal fitness gain.

The Forerunner 610 also adds to its long list of advanced sports feature, the new Virtual Racer, that allows you to compete against previously recorded efforts with variable speeds factored in. Along with Virtual Racer and other intelligent sports features, the 610 is the ultimate runner’s GPS watch, allowing you to tweak and customize an advanced training schedule for your optimal fitness and performance gain, however we must warn you, that the 610 is an advanced watch with a steep learning curve. If you are looking for a basic training watch, we’d advise you consider simpler options like the Forerunner 110 and 210.

The 410 adds, a new and improved touch-bezel, an enhanced sports GPS and more. We rate the Forerunner 410 highly for athletes who need the best sports features money can buy. The 410 is a sophisticated timepiece, with everything advanced athletes need to gain an edge in their sport.

But make no mistake, the Forerunner watches are high-level sports watches intended for those who demand top-line features. If all you seek is a simple runners watch, the 410 will has a high learning curve that will probably overwhelm you. If you’re seek an advanced watch that “has it all”, then the Forerunner 410 is definitely worth a closer look.

Read more about the Forerunner 405CX here
See how Forerunner GPS Watches Differ here

The FR60 features several significant improvements on the Forerunner 50 including the inclusion of the Virtual Partner feature, better water proofing, more battery life, interval timing and more memory storage.

Like all modern Forerunner watches, the FR60 features wireless ANT+ support, allowing you transfer your workout data via PC or Mac into the Garmin Connect online fitness portal.

The FR60 has all the quality functionality that Garmin have perfected over the years in their other watches, but due to the fact that it uses a foot pod rather than GPS for measuring speed and distance it’s a much smaller watch and very good looking enabling you to perform advanced training in optimal comfort and style.

Unlike the Garmin Forerunner watches, the Suunto t6d does not have GPS built into the wrist watch, but can be extended with optional Suunto pods (purchased seperately or as part of a bundled Suunto pack). The lack of GPS circuitary makes the watch a lot smaller, lighter and more comfortable to wear, but still has the option to measure speed, distance and bike features.

The t6d watch also sports a barometric altimeter, making it more accurate when measuring elevation than an equivalent GPS watch. It should be emphasised that this is no beginners watch, this is a top-of-the-range performance sports watch with a heavy learning curve making it the ideal sports watch for those serious in training and competing at the top level.

The RS300X replaces the RS200. The watch has a personal training mode that guides you to the right intensity as well as the Polar Fitness Test feature. With a sophisticated interval trainer feature and support for 16 exercise files, each capable of recording 99 laps.

As you would expect from Polar, the RS300X comes with a top-quality digital heart rate monitor with heart rate-based target heart rate zones, calcualated maximum heart rate and alarms. This watch also features a sophisticated exercise sets mode for extended exercise profiles, speed and distance features such as speed and pace zones, distance summeries and a trip odometer.

If a quality, functional sports running watch is what you seek, the RS300X delivers Polar’s unique style of sports watch excellence.

The t3c falls in about the middle of the line and is suitable for runners in training for endurance events, but can also cater to cyclists, skiiers and triathletes. The t3c watch is capable of measuring and presenting your real-time training effect, an indicator of how effectively you are working out that is superior to measuring heart rate alone.

The t3c can also measure calories, can accomodate interval training and speed and distance tracking (when used with an optional GPS pod or foot pod device).

For a sophisticated, personalized training schedule based on your workout results, you might also consider the Suunto t4c and for maximum sporting analysis, the Suunto t6c, provides considerably more functionality including read-time EPOC display, barometric altimeter for elevation data, beat-to-beat heart rate recording and a detailed analysis of 7 body parameters.

The 310XT is an upgrade of the Forerunner 305 and adds, an extended 20-hour battery life, an upgraded GPS chipset and waterproofing to 50 meters, allowing triathletes to safely use this watch in their swim legs. The watch cannot actually lock onto the GPS signal underwater, nor will a heart rate monitor work, but there is no reason not to put your Garmin 310XT under a swimming cap during a swim leg to record the speed and distance of your swim, or plot a 3D course of your swimming route.

The 310XT is an advanced watch, targeted at athletes who wish to track every aspect of their sporting performances, it is not a beginners watch and there is a learning curve in learning how to tweak this watch to your full advantage. The watch is fully customizable and packed with Garmin’s advanced sports watch features, allowing you to optimize your training and performances for a fitness edge on your competitors.

The Global Trainer is Timex’s answer to the Garmin Forerunner 310XT. It features highly customizable features, with the ability to tweak the display screen and has a multisport mode that allows athletes to transition seemlessly between sports like, for example cycling to running to swimming. The Global Trainer also allows you to record laps in multisport modes, unlike the 310XT at the present time.

The Global Trainer features many of the best advantages of a GPS watch such as auto-splits, auto-stop/start, distance based alerts and a performance pacer mode that allowes you to race or train against a defined target based on distance and time. The watch is compatible with ANT+™ bike sensors and has a basic navigation mode. This wath is pretty large on the wrist and with it’s advanced functionality, is targted more at those looking for the ultimate in sports watch sophistication rather than beginners.

While bulkier than the 410, the watch has largely the same features, plus a few that the 410 lacks like navigation and tracking abilities inluding a navigation map view mode and multisport modes for triathlons.

The 305 has support for an optional foot pod device, allowing you to measure speed and distance on an indoor track or on a treadmill if needed. The watch has now been superceded by the Forerunner 310XT which has tweaked GPS, improved battery life, wireless ANT+ data transfer, improved multisport abilities and is the world’s first waterproof GPS. But at the current price, the Forerunner 305 is great value if you don’t mind a larger watch.

The 150 Lap Timex Sleek Ironman Triathlon running watch not only has a stylish, sleek look, but features 9 interval timers, a 100 hour chronograph with 199 lap counter and 150 lap memory. This watch is also water resistant to 100 meters, features the Indiglo illumination system with night mode, three alarms and two time zones.

If you do not seek a heart rate monitor, speed and distance tracking or advanced analysis features in a running sports watch, than a watch like the 150-Lap Sleek Timex is probably exactly what you need.

Firstly the watch features a 100 hour chronograph, with 199 lap counter and 100 lap memory recall. The watch also has 9 interval timers with countdown/stop and countdown repeat options. A training log stores workouts in the watches memory by date with a summary of the best lap, average lap and total segment time and the watch features Timex’s Indiglo Night Light system with Night Mode and water resistance to 100 meters.

Non sporting features include 5 alarms, dual time zones and the revolutionary FLIX system, that activates Indiglo with a firm shake of the wrist and thus eliminating the need to fumble around in the dark for buttons to view your stopwatch times.

This is another very affordable, yet functional entry level runners watch that should be all you require for simple, structured training.

The Timex Ironman Sleek 50-Lap watch for ladies features an ultra-durable, feminine design and comfortably fits a slim wrist. This watch has the features you expect in timex sports watches, including a 100 hour chronograph stopwatch, with 99 Lap Counter and 50 Lap Memory Recall.

With two interval repetition counters you can perform, variable length timed interval sessions and this watch is also water resistant to 100 meters, has Indiglo night light and night mode, three alarms and dual time zones.

This is an affordable womens sports watch for those who want a feminine watch, without the need for a lot of fancy features.