I was wondering what kind of distances people are getting on their gps watches for a marathon?
I just ran my first with my forerunner 405 and got a distance of 26.51. I know that you have to allow for tangents, etc. but .31 miles off seems really high!
What are some typical distances you other marathoners get on your gps watches?
It varies... even on the same course I get different readings from my gps, so you shouldn't rely on it too closely. I've run two marathons with my Garmin and come out at 43.22km and 42.60km. Whilst the courses are accurately measured it's hard to know exactly how far I actually ran. The first of those (Paris) is complicated by the fact that you go under a few quite long underpasses where the gps unit loses its signal for a bit.
42.6, 42.4 and 42.5 km with a 305.
With the last one I was checking against the actual km markers every 6 km and on the 1st 6km of the course I was out by +300m. This was mostly flat but in town. The remainder of the markers were spot on and the course was hilly. Final error of +300m.
Close enough for me.
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I was wondering what kind of distances people are getting on their gps watches for a marathon? I just ran my first with my forerunner 405 and got a distance of 26.51. I know that you have to allow for tangents, etc. but .31 miles off seems really high! What are some typical distances you other marathoners get on your gps watches?
That's not really high. That's pretty normal. And it is more than just tangents. There's also the idea that certified courses are all a weeee bit long anyway, and the fact that your gps may not be as accurate as you wish it was.
Read this.
For me, typically 26.5 - 26.6. I like to run in the center of the road, which increases my distance ever so slightly.
26.4 to 26.7 for me.
When I'm planning the paces I want to see early on on my watch and what I need to set my training towards, I assume ~26.5