2 October 2026

No, you do not need a smartwatch to start running. A phone in your pocket with a free running app tracks your time, distance and pace, and that is everything a beginner needs to see progress. The watch can wait until running has become a habit that asks for one, and for a lot of runners that day never comes. If your worry is that everyone at a club run will be wearing one and judging yours, they will not be. People come to run together, not to compare gear.

Why a phone in your pocket is enough to start

The first weeks of running are about showing up, not about data. What actually keeps a beginner going is finishing runs, feeling better afterwards and noticing that last week's route felt easier this week. A free app on your phone records all of it: how long you went, how far, and roughly how quick. That is the whole scoreboard a new runner needs.

There is a practical bonus too. Starting with a phone means your first running purchase costs nothing, which leaves money for the things that matter more at the start, like shoes that fit and a top you can sweat in. We have pulled together the best running apps for beginners if you want to pick one before your first run.

One more reason beginners can skip the watch: at a club run, the distance is already worked out for you. You do not need to measure a route or follow a plan on a screen. You pick a lap, run with people, and you are done. The tech that sells itself as essential mostly solves problems beginners do not have yet.

When a watch earns its place

A running watch is a good purchase at the wrong time for most beginners, and a great one at the right time. It earns its place when running is a settled habit and the phone starts getting in the way. The usual signals:

• You run most weeks. If you are out three or more times a week, a watch on your wrist is more convenient than pocketing a phone every time.
• You want to run to a pace. Training plans and interval sessions ask for specific paces, and glancing at a wrist beats pulling out a phone mid effort.
• You care about heart rate. Easy runs done at an easy effort are the core of good training, and a watch shows whether you are actually taking it easy.
• You have a goal race. Racing a 10k or a half marathon is where wrist based pacing and lap splits genuinely help.
• The phone annoys you. Bouncing in a pocket or a strap, battery anxiety, sweaty hands on the screen: at some point the wrist wins.

Notice what is not on that list: starting. A watch bought before the habit exists tends to end up in a drawer. Let the running ask for it first.

How club runs work watch free

Here is the good news for anyone starting without a watch: a group run makes tracking almost unnecessary. At Hills Run Club, a free community running club in the Hills District of Sydney, every run has set distances on a measured loop, so you always know how far you went before you start.

• Thursday Morning Run: meet 5:45am for a 6:00am start at Glenhaven Oval, 78 Glenhaven Road, Glenhaven, with coffee and a sweet treat afterwards. The distance options are 2.5 km or 5 km.
• Tuesday Night Run: every second Tuesday, meet 6:45pm for a 7:00pm start at Castle Hill Showground, under the lights. The distance options are 3 km or 6 km.

These are options rather than a quota: one lap is a full run in itself, and walkers are welcome at every run. You choose on the day. If you are wondering whether you will be able to keep up with a group, we wrote a whole piece about whether you need to be fast to join a run club. Short version: no.

And nobody checks watches at the start line, or mid run, or at the end. Plenty of members run watch free, plenty run on their phones, and the fastest people in the club have never once asked a newcomer what they are wearing on their wrist. The runs are social by design: the point is the people around you and the coffee afterwards, not the numbers.

Phone, watch or nothing at all

Different setups suit different runners. Here is the honest comparison.

If you are unsure, start in the first row and stay there. Upgrading is easy later, and the second row will still be on the shelf whenever the habit catches up.

What to do this week instead of shopping

If you are starting running, put the tabs away and spend five minutes on this instead. Running with Hills Run Club is free, and every run is registered in HRC+, our free membership program.

• Make a free HRC+ account at hillsrunclub.com/hrc-plus/.
• Register for the run you want to join, and see every upcoming run on the runs page.
• Pick your distance on the day, one lap or two, and walk whatever parts you like.
• Bring your phone if you want the stats, or leave it at home and enjoy the break.
• Stay for the coffee afterwards on a Thursday morning. That is where the club actually happens.

If you want a picture of what a first run actually feels like, our guide to how to join a running club walks you through the whole morning, from the welcome to the finish.