TechSmartwatchesI ran the London Marathon with the Apple Watch Ultra – here’s my honest opinionHow does Apple’s toughest watch stack up against the fierce competition from Garmin and Coros? I had to find out.When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechSmartwatchesI ran the London Marathon with the Apple Watch Ultra – here’s my honest opinionHow does Apple’s toughest watch stack up against the fierce competition from Garmin and Coros? I had to find out.When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
How does Apple’s toughest watch stack up against the fierce competition from Garmin and Coros? I had to find out.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Matt Kollat/T3)
(Image credit: Matt Kollat/T3)
Many people use thebest Apple Watchesfor running training. Until recently, I mainly usedGarminand Polar watches for this purpose, but my recent experience using one of the latestAppleWatches convinced me I should try them out under actual racing circumstances. After a chat with Apple, I decided to take theApple Watch Ultrawith me to the London Marathon to see what would happen!
In case you have lived under a rock for the last six months, the Apple Watch Ultra is the most significant update to what many consider thebest smartwatchin the world. It has the biggest screen and the longest battery life of all Apple Watches, as well as the latest sensors and features. Better still, it has some unique features, such asPrecision Start, which can’t be found on any other Apple Watches (yet).
Mickey will help you run faster(Image credit: Matt Kollat/T3)
Mickey will help you run faster
Mickey will help you run faster
(Image credit: Matt Kollat/T3)
Thanks to the large screen, the Apple Watch Ultra can display up to six data fields on each of its workout views, which is pretty impressive. For comparison, theGarmin Forerunner 265can only display four data fields, although that watch is much cheaper. The Ultra also has an extra button compared to the Series 8 and the latest-gen SE, which is much better when you don’t have time to fiddle around with the touchscreen.
Another top-notch feature that makes the Apple Watch Ultra the ultimate marathon racing partner is the multi-band GPS. Not dissimilar to thebest Garmin watches, the Apple Watch Ultra can connect to two GPS systems simultaneously to give you better accuracy, even in challenging environments such as city centres with tall buildings. There is also the Pacer function that lets you set a distance and a desired finish time on the watch ahead of the race; all you have to do is pay attention to the watch’s suggestions as you run, and voila! You smashed your PB (if only it were this easy).
With this in mind, I set out to run my second London Marathon in six months, even though I didn’t quitenail my debutlast year. Not only that, but it took me forever to recover from theMongol 100ultramarathon I did in late February/early March. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to be back on the streets of London to soak up the atmosphere and support coming from the crowd!
(Image credit: Matt Kollat/T3)
(Image credit: Matt Kollat/T3)
Apple Watch Ultra x London Marathon: the results
I won’t go into too much detail about the London Marathon here; it was brilliant, just like last time. There were thousands of people running and even more cheering along – everyone must try it once. You have eight hours to complete the race, so even if you aren’t a sub-3-hour runner, you should be able to drag yourself to the finish line.
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Anyhow, I digress. I set up my virtual Pacer for a 3:30 marathon, which, even then, I knew was utterly unrealistic based on how much training I did, but I couldn’t help myself. Also, I thought this would help me see what the Pacer would do when I started lagging behind my planned time. I also customised my workout views before the race to ensure the first screen showed me all the necessary details (I didn’t want to spend much time scrolling between screens).
Lo and behold, the Ultra was pretty accurate regarding GPS accuracy and pacing. I had the new Garmin Forerunner 965 on my other wrist (review coming soon) to double-check the Ultra, and the distance, pace and heart rate data were on point. Not saying the Ultra needs double-checking, but I thought I’d have a fairly accurate multisport watch (see also:best triathlon watches) with me to ensure everything is going well.
Not my finest time, but hey, at leats I finished the race(Image credit: Matt Kollat/T3)
Not my finest time, but hey, at leats I finished the race
Not my finest time, but hey, at leats I finished the race
(Image credit: Matt Kollat/T3)
Pacer aside, another feature I wanted to see in action was the data field layout. You get six of these on each workout view of the Apple Watch Ultra; plenty to work with. I would appreciate some division between the fields and clearer labels – it’s not always easy to determine which field is what when running in the rain. You can fully customise these, but still; there is plenty of unused space on the right side of the screen, which could help spread out the information better.
Regarding battery life, I charged the watch in the morning before the race, and it was on 66 per cent after I crossed the finish line, leaving me with plenty of battery power for the rest of the day. Of course, I would prefer not to carry a watch charger with me on a just-in-case basis, but it’s something, right? I hope Apple will soon introduce watches with week-long battery life or at least allow people to turn off some of the unused sensors and features to help preserve battery power.
Overall, I have no regrets about taking the Apple Watch Ultra to the London Marathon. It has accurate sensors, GPS and spot-on running features. The display is bright and easy to read, and the watch measures tons of advanced running metrics like cadence, ground contact time, running power, etc., without external sensors. If you’re concerned about the battery dying on you – which, as I found out, shouldn’t be an issue as long as you quick-charge the wearable in the morning –, just have aportable power bankin your backpack.
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