I recently lent out my Garmin Forerunner GPS watch to our race director so he could mark the course for the upcoming Rock/Creek River Gorge Trail Race. Jamie ran the 6.5 mile course, and the results are below. If you’ve never tried a GPS unit, I warn you ahead of time that it’s highly possible that you’ll never want to leave the house without it.
So here’s what you get from MotionBased when you export to Google. Be sure to switch between the satellite and the terrain views with the “Sat” and “Ter” buttons. As you can see, this is a beautiful run along a ridge on the Cumberland Plateau, and you’re overlooking the Tennessee River on most of the course:
View Larger Map
The idea is simple, but it bears repeating because it blows my mind every time I think about it: the government developed a system where they send big hunks of metal into space on a space shuttle or rocket or whatever so they can track whatever it is they track, and they end up allowing the general public to access these satellites. So now when you head out on a run, ride, paddle- or whatever you do outside- you can wear a watch that checks in with these things flying around in space.
When you get back home, you plug the watch into the computer and it overlays your route on a map that you can drag around and zoom in and out. Also, it sends your route through another service that checks the elevation against the map and gives you an elevation profile. What? How cool is that!
MotionBased also gives you some options for analyzing your speed and pace. The Forerunner has a “lap” button that you can use to manually set laps, or you can choose to have it auto-lap each mile while running.
Of course, Garmin offers a variety of GPS units, some with navigation features and maps. We offer quite a few choices at Rock/Creek.
You also might want to check out our Suunto GPS-enabled watches, like the X9i, which are ideal for mountaineers, skiiers, and any athletes who want high technology and bombproof construction.
Sign up for the Rock/Creek River Gorge Trail Race >
Check out the full 2008 Rock/Creek Trail Series >
Shop GPS Units for Navigation or Sports at Rock/Creek >