Five Helpful Tips for Using a Smartwatch on Race Day That Every Marathon Runner Should Know.

I love my Garmin Forerunner 970 , but the thing is, most runners don’t need all its features. In fact, for most road runs , any smartwatch you already own will do—as long as you know how to use it. If you’re planning a marathon or half marathon, these five tips will take just a few minutes to set up and will help you avoid a ton of minor but preventable hiccups that can derail a great race.

For more accurate tracking, obtain a GPS signal as early as possible.

Nothing increases pre-race anxiety more than standing in a crowd of hundreds watching your watch struggle to find a signal. Tall buildings, crowded launch pads, and a sea of ​​other devices make GPS unreliable for the first minute, which can lead to a sharp drift from your set pace in the first few kilometers.

The solution is simple: start searching for GPS early. Go outside, into an open space, as soon as you drop your bag, and select a running activity at least 10-15 minutes before the starting gun. If your watch supports multi-band or dual-frequency GPS, enable it in the activity settings, as it works significantly better in dense urban areas. Then, don’t press the “Start” button until the gun sounds (or you cross the finish line, if you want accurate pace data from the chip).

Extra tip: If you’re in the launch area with a long wait, you can block the signal and then pause the activity screen. Just remember to press the “Start” button when you actually begin takeoff.

Create a race day data display screen that shows only the information you need.

Multiple data screens are great for training, but during a race they can be confusing. Too many numbers encourage overthinking, and seeing the “wrong” number at mile two can lead to extreme overwhelm by mile ten.

I recommend creating a separate screen for participant selection, including a maximum of three or four fields:

• Lap pace or average lap pace (not instantaneous pace, which changes constantly when using GPS).

• Distance or lap distance so you know where you are in relation to the kilometre markers.

• Heart rate, especially in the first few kilometers when adrenaline pushes you to start too quickly.

• Past tense reflecting the difference between your result and your goal.

Try to keep your approach minimalistic and simple, and avoid the temptation to add cadence, power, vertical oscillation, and anything else. You can always check these metrics during your cool-down.

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Turn off notifications and create race-specific alerts.

A message from your boss at mile 14 is certainly annoying. Before the race, switch your watch to Do Not Disturb or Airplane mode, or enable a special activity mode that blocks notifications. This also saves battery life, which is important if your marathon will take you more than four hours.

By disconnecting from the outside world, you can set race-specific alerts, such as a high heart rate alert to help you maintain your rhythm in the first half of the race. I also know runners who set recurring time or distance alerts for fuel—say, every 30-40 minutes or every 5 miles—to help them remember to drink a gel or sports drink without depending on their tiring brain.

Use the circle button to correct GPS offset at kilometer markers.

Here’s something I learn the hard way every time: your watch almost always shows you’ve run more than the course indicated. Courses are measured by the shortest route, but along the way you have to dodge people, make wide turns, and generally increase the distance. I’ve run marathons where my watch showed a distance closer to 26.6 miles (almost half a mile longer), so my watch’s “pace” reading is actually behind the chip’s.

Life hack: Ignore the automatic lap count on your watch and press the lap button manually at each mile marker (or kilometer marker, if the course uses one). This will allow you to get pace data that matches the official course, not a satellite-based estimate. It will also allow you to quickly check whether it’s aligned with your plan. If you’ve set your watch to display average lap pace, glance at it a few hundred meters after each marker to see how you’re progressing. And don’t panic if the watch beeps a mile before you pass the marker—trust the course and your lap button presses, and try to ignore any discrepancies in distance.

Lock your touchscreen to prevent chaos on race day.

Rain, sweat, greetings, and hasty cup use at the aid station can all lead to accidental taps on your watch’s touchscreen. There’s little worse than discovering at mile 18 that you’ve accidentally paused, ended, or switched screens during a workout. So, before your run, turn on the watch’s screen lock to prevent accidental taps from affecting your watch.

If your watch supports a customizable wake-up gesture, disable it to conserve battery life and set a short backlight timeout. Speaking of wearing your watch, remember to wear it snugly, one finger’s width above your wrist bone, to ensure accurate heart rate readings while sweating. Finally, if your watch supports auto-save after a run, use it. (Otherwise, try pressing the “Stop” button after crossing the finish line.)

Again, you don’t need the most expensive running watch before race day. If you have time, try these life hacks during a long run to avoid wasting precious mental energy on race day.

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