Five Reasons Gabe Joyes Loves Garmin’s Enduro

Garmin Pro Gabe Joyes is a mountain runner and racer, and whether he’s breaking records on 100-mile runs or trekking through the wild near his home in western Wyoming, he needs an ultraperformance GPS watch that can keep up. Enter Enduro™. We sent Gabe on his way with our multisport watch designed specifically for ultrarunners, and the results were — well, they were exactly what we expected, actually. He loves it, but you don’t have to take our word for it. More from Gabe himself below:

I can remember — almost a decade ago — being impressed with the battery life and features of my first GPS watch, which only lasted 8 hours. Only 4 years ago, I used a Garmin competitor’s GPS watch at the Hardrock 100 that lasted 18 hours but was laughably inaccurate. Fast-forward to 2021 and watch technology has come a long way. No product on the market optimizes this like the Garmin Enduro, with an almost unthinkable 80 hours in GPS mode, pinpoint accuracy and more features than my fingers can type. After putting the Enduro through a few hundred miles of winter and spring mountain running, it is clear that it was designed for ultradistance runners, as well as anyone else who likes to push the limits of human endurance. Here are my five favorite Enduro features:

1. It’s solar-powered.

The Enduro is solar-powered! Every endurance runner I know spends as much time as they possibly can outside in the sun, so it’s rather brilliant to have a watch that harvests the energy of the sun. This level of mega battery life is crucial for adventures like my 47-hour Wind River High Route fastest known time last fall!

2. It’s lightweight.

Endurance athletes know that going ultralightweight is critical, and every gram counts. If you are going to wear a watch for 80 hours straight, you don’t want a heavy hunk of metal sliding around your wrist. Even though the Enduro has the largest and easiest-to-read screen of any watch I have used, it is unnoticeably light with the titanium case only weighing a measly 55 grams. For perspective, I put more grams of coffee beans than that in my morning French press!

3. It’s comfortable.

More than just being featherweight, the Enduro is also wear-all-day comfortable. The nylon band is a surprising upgrade that I was initially hesitant about, but the overall comfort of the watch is definitely improved by the soft and adjustable strap — no bouncing or chafing here. Particularly during extra-long efforts where hydration and temperature alter your skin, the ability to dial in the exact fit on the fly is a savvy upgrade.

4. It’s accurate.

A light and comfortable GPS watch would not be very useful without reliable and accurate metrics — and the Enduro has plenty of those. The wrist-based heart rate monitor is totally functional and effective (accuracy aided by the aforementioned adjustable nylon band). It’s so accurate that I am able to help gauge my hard interval efforts by real-time heart rate monitoring. Other metrics are spot on too, like ClimbPro, which shows uphill gradient and vertical speed, as well as heat- and altitude-adjusted Trail Run VO2 max.

5. It’s connected.

Like so many folks, I’ve been working from home during the pandemic, which of course means carving out times for midday runs. The Enduro’s smart notifications allow me to quickly read emails and text messages on the run. It also alerts me to upcoming Zoom meetings that I forgot about, which conveniently leads to impromptu speed work sessions. The Enduro helps optimize work-life efficiency and keeps you connected!

Ready to quit reading and start racing? You can add Enduro to the cart here.