Fenix 6 reports distance incorrectly

Brand new Fenix 6.  Ran a 6 miler (3miles out and back) that I’ve run hundreds of times.  Watch reports mile 3 at the correct turn around point, but by the time I reach mile 4, it’s only reporting 3.8 miles and my pace is showing as two minutes slower than normal.  At the end, total distance is 5.8 miles, but the gps track on the map is perfect.  I load it into Strava and select “correct distance” and it calculates 6.1 miles, so the points in the track are actually correct.

I’ve taken this watch on 2 runs, and something this has happened both times.  The first time it happened much earlier in the run, and the entire run was reported a mile shorter than actualThis is my 3rd Garmin device (just upgraded from a vivoactive 3) and have never had this problem, where the GPS track looks fine, but the distance is wrong. First track was GPS + GLONASS, second track was GPS + GALILEO.

watch is completely up to date:

Firmware 9.0

GPS 4.4

Sensor Hub 5.07

What are my options to stop this from happening?

exhibit 1: mile 4 much longer than mile 3

exhibit 2:  i did not slow down like shown below

  • I eventually invested in a Stryd footpod and it made a huge difference.  Very precise and very consistent, and provides a reasonable estimate of instantaneous speed, which most GPS watches don’t do very well.  Stryd’s are kind of expensive, but for me it was worth the investment.