GPS Kids | Jake’s Journal: Fast learners enjoy Forerunner clinic at Garmin HQ

One of the best parts of my job is getting to interact with – and be inspired by – runners and cyclists with various levels of talent and experience who are also training with our technology. Garmin’s fitness products are the go-to training devices for Team Garmin’s elite cyclists (Edge 500 and Edge 705), record-holding distance runners Ryan Hall (Forerunner 110), Deena Kastor (FR60) and Josh Cox (check out his recent 32-miler with Forerunner 405) and world-class hurdler Lolo Jones (FR60). But Tuesday night, I enjoyed getting to know a group of stellar runners who are more my speed. 

In preparation for Kansas City’s Hospital Hill half-marathon, 10K and 5K next month, Garmin hosted a training clinic to teach participants how to get even more out of their Forerunners. When you’re preparing for a race named with two words you hope not to encounter, you need all the help you can get. And the two dozen runners and walkers who attended were eager to learn. 

Beth, race director extraordinaire, kicked things off with a rundown of what to expect and not to expect on raceday. Yes, there will be plenty of aid stations. No, they can’t flatten the course. Then Garmin blogger Peg reminded everyone about the great charities involved with this (and any other) race, giving people even more incentive to get to the starting line. Then I spent a few minutes going over the basic functionality that spans all of Garmin’s gps kids watch-enabled fitness watches – accurate real-time pace, distance and timing. Then we broke into groups for more product-specific information. Runners with a Forerunner 310XT or Forerunner 305 learned how to customize their multisport watches from my colleagues Todd and Amy. Forerunner 405 owners learned a few touch-bezel tricks from my cohorts Paul and Brandi (we also told them about the tutorial videos). And I kept things simple, talking about the streamlined Forerunner 110 to folks who just wanted to know how far and how fast they were going. We finished up the clinic with group runs of either 1 mile around the Garmin campus or 3 miles on the same trails on which we do our lunch runs each day. And even though none of us will break Ryan’s half-marathon record of 59:43 next month, we’ll all have a few more tricks up our sleeves – and friends at the finish line. 

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