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I strapped on a brand new Timex Marathon GPS watch that goes for about $100 on amazon.com. It is well documented how little I like to read instruction manuals on how to use a watch so I did not bother with this watch either. I pushed the mode button until it said run. It was searching for satellites so I figured that was a good thing. It took a little longer to lock than the Garmin 405 but not much longer. I had to hit the start button twice before the timer started. After a couple of minutes of running, I looked down to see what the watch was doing.
It showed 3 readings, elapsed time, distance and pace. I was happy and kept on moving. When I checked again, about a mile down the road, I could not recognize the numbers. It took me a minute to figure out what the numbers meant because they were in kilometers and I never monitor my pace. At the 5 kilometer mark, the watch beeped and appeared to stop. I pushed some buttons to get it going again and wound up starting a new lap. In hindsight, the beep and stopped time was there to let me know the lap time and would have resumed, if I left it alone.
Good:
- A GPS watch for less than $100
- Can be operated without reading instructions
- Light weight
- Great battery life
- Fits small wrists
Bad:
- Reads in kilometers out of the box
- USB charger does not talk to a computer
- No HRM but not expected at price
I like the Timex Marathon GPS. It is a nice light GPS watch that does not break the bank. It is worth the $100 price tag and the great battery life allows you to throw it in a gym locker for two weeks then take it out for an hour jog.
