Is there a reason that we can't use GPS watches during an XC race?

When I was competing, it was no watches at all. GPS watches weren't even invented.

I'm not that old, we didn't use sundials.

Same old white men in suits who make ridiculous rules about uniforms.

Potential unfair advantage over someone not wearing one? You have a better sense of pace and remaining distance in the race. I'm also from the "no watches" era of HS running.

It presents an obvious unfair advantage to those runners and teams that can afford GPS watches. Why do you need a GPS watch in an XC race; if there are a lot of turns it will not even be accurate.

LOL! Are there places where this is an actual rule? How would anyone even know if you wore a GPS watch. No official is going to go around checking kids' wrists or even know what a GPS watch looks like. To them it would just look like a normal watch anyway.

Yeah, I've been considering just wearing one next season, but I don't want to risk disqualification.

Yeah, I thought the op was joking, but apparently not. What a ridiculous rule.

Kind of silly to make GPS watches illegal I guess, but I'm also not really sure why you'd want to wear one. Of all the things I'm processing as I race, exact current pace really isn't something I care about. Mostly I care about how my body feels at my current pace and what the people I'm racing against are doing.

Do you really not know if you're getting out too fast or if the pace is lagging before you look at your watch?

GPS watches and timing equipment will not interfere with each other.

Where is this? Sounds bogus to me.

"No official is going to go around checking kids' wrists or even know what a GPS watch looks like."

I remember at NCAA regionals in cross one year they did this. Before GPS watches. Officials were going along the start line and putting bandaids on if you had say a Nike Swoosh on your watch. Nothing to do with watches really. Just reminded me. It was pretty hilarious as it was snowing and could barely see my own feet.

1) You should not WANT to wear a watch of any kind during a race. Not only is it distracting but consumes energy and takes away from the authenticity of racing.

2) Two way interference of radio signals and frequency. Remote sensing of timing mats to "chip" can be interfered with as well as watch to satellite due to the signals and frequencies of the mats.

3) Can you imagine the dumb 16 year olds and their coaches complaining about GPS showing the 2 mile marker "in the woods", for instance, is off? Commercial GPS has a 15m/s^2 margin of error. GPS can pinpoint your precise location from a theoretical circle encircling your device signal which is actually the second draw. First it theoretically draws a larger triangle to enclose your device signal then looks for a place to encircle for your precise location. But if the GPS cant draw a precise circle because of a tree or failed signal it will default to a nearest location in the larger triangle which could be "out of the woods". To that extenr, timers, governing bodies and referees want nothing to do with it.

I read somewhere that too many GPS devices bouncing around an XC course confuses the satellites and cab cause them to collide with each other.

Because of the poors who can’t afford them

Your coach doesn't know the rules. GPS watches are allowed by NFHS. Show the rule to your coach.

We used them all year in my state. Garmin had over 100 kids upload their race at Nationals. Same with NCAA. Watches are 100% allowed.

You said it in the opening post, “it would help me pace a little better.”
You should not get a technological advantage that other racers don’t have. Racing should be about beating people without a having a technological advantage.

Wait a minute. You're saying a traditional wrist watch is MORE bulky than a watch with a GPS and probably bluetooth/wifi antenna inside?

It's all about Strava. If HS students wore gps watches during races, they would win all the strava segments and slow losers like me would never get thumbs up on strava!