I took the Nike SportBand out on a run last Thursday evening at the Ateneo campus. I needed to calibrate it and see also see for myself whether it was accurate. I did three rounds of the Ateneo campus, starting from the Grade School, passing through the Henry Lee Theater, Manila Observatory, College Covered Courts and Loyolya Schools Grounds, Church of the Gesu, EAPI, High School then making a turn at Moro Lorenzo, passed through parade loop, the different institutes and finally through Gate 3 and back to the Grade School. This was the route for the Ateneo Big Blue Run.

According to the Ateneo Athletics United website, this route measures 3km; however the Nike SportBand says it’s around 2.6km. I think I’ll need to calibrate the SportBand and sensor on a treadmill or the trackoval.

The data that the SportBand recorded are the following:

DISTANCE: 8.11km
DURATION: 56′24”
PACE: 6′55”
CALORIES: 667

It was fairly accurate. It was off my 300m IF THE COURSE WAS INDEED 3KM. My complaint with the SportBand is that it’s not backlit and it is very difficult to use under poor lighting conditions. Also, the numbers are too small for my taste. I wish also it had more buttons. I wonder if it is possible to lock into a certain data mode, choosing between distance, duration, pace and calories, instead of going through all. It would also be good if it had split and or lap timing.

I think I’ll have to take it out again on another test run to give a more detailed review.