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Ultra cougie wrote (see)

Gels take 20 mins or so to kick in anyway - so if you're feeling the benefit of them its probably just psychological.

That's why I take them in plenty of time - around 8 miles on training runs, and just before half way in the halfs I've also used the gels to give me a boost when running before breakfast. It's probably a case of getting used to it again, because I don't often run before breakfast, but I've found I struggle with any sort of distance without them.

Ultra cougie wrote (see)

Unless you're running over 15 miles or so - you don't need gels/extra energy. Your body has enough reserves to get you through that kind of distance. 

The exceptions are if you're practicing your feeding strategy for a marathon or you're starting to do long distances. 

Perhaps I fall in to the category of "starting to do long distances" having only trained for and run 2 half marathons, but my experience tells me that I need gels or I struggle beyond 10 miles.

I use the High5 gels, and have generally run faster when using the ones with caffeine in them too.

No downsides that I can think of. Upsides are reduced race fees, free training (ok, covered by membership), social scene, and often you get discounts on kit from local shops. I joined a club earlier this year, and have seen some improvement in my running despite not making down to the track nights every week (probably averaging once every two weeks). I also find it a motivating factor - it's sometimes easier for me to motivate myself to go to a track session than it is to get out and run on my own.

I've used my iPhone with Runkeeper and Strava in Europe with data roaming turned off. I synced the activities when I had wifi access, or I waited until I got home.