's unlikely you'll need a watch that does much more than tell you when it's time to go home.Most of us, however, want more. At the very least a simple stopwatch that records how long you've been running; probably a lap counter to record your pace per mile

When Runner's World readers were asked to list their essential kit last year, heart-rate monitors came out on top. Unfortunately for the female runner, using a heart-rate monitor is usually an uncomfortable experience, requiring 10 minutes before

, load it with tunes and run.The best players for runners are those that use Flash memory, as these have no moving parts so songs won't skip. The days when Flash players only had room for an album's worth of music are long gone, and players are available

to at least 10mph (even if you’re not a fast runner, you’ll need this for sprint intervals), and a decent warranty length.Home models have certainly come on since the last time RW looked at them, two years ago. For a reasonable outlay of £1,000- £2

, countdown timer, Hi/Lo Target Zone with audible and visual alarm.Reader Review The GT5 is heart-rate monitor with all the typical functions; basic stopwatch, training zones, interval training and the ability to record workouts and then upload them to a PC

If you want to know exactly how far, and fast, you've run, then a speed-and-distance monitoring (SDM) watch is an essential piece of kit. Timex, Garmin and Navman produce SDMs that use satellites to trace your steps. They're pretty good, but if you

information to be useful for runners who simply fancy giving heart-rate monitoring a go. It has a simple stopwatch – start, stop and no lap function – but you can keep a check on your current heart rate, your maximum and your average

The Nike+ receiver fits into the bottom of a standard iPod NanoNike – along with Apple - have just put on a sprint in the race to make the sexiest running gadget yet. The ‘Nike+’ kit turns Apple’s sleek iPod Nano MP3 player into a speed and distance

The 2007 Personal Best Awards marked a new venture for Runner’s World but one that was long overdue – an annual celebration of all the best things in running. Our aim when founding the Awards was to recognise and reward the products and services

You have to pity race organisers. They go to great pains to have someone ride round their course measuring it with a Jones-Oerth counter, then 200 runners turn up wearing wrist-mounted GPS computers and claim the route is 300 metres too long. Speed