The reason long-distance runners love the fall season isn’t just the ability to train at any time of day without dreading the heat. The fall is also when the racing season returns. The temperature drop makes running marathons and half marathons more comfortable, so plenty of runners are likely in the final stages of training. That phase involves looking at their health-tracking devices and apps more closely than in the summer season. It’s not about heart rate zones or custom training sessions. Runners will look at their fitness apps to refresh their memories of personal bests (PBs). The racing season gives them another chance to try to beat them.
However, if you’re a runner relying on the Apple Watch and the Fitness app to keep track of your progress and automatically surface your best times, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. The Awards system may be inaccurate and it might give you incorrect fastest-time data.
I’m one of those runners about to take part in a few races this fall season, including half marathon and 10K races. I’m aware of my PBs for those distances, and I’m always ready for the challenge of improving them. That’s how I discovered that the Fitness app on my iPhone (running iOS 26.1 beta) gave me the wrong information. I checked my fastest 10K and half marathon races, and I was surprised to learn that I ran a 5K race in a little over 13 minutes. A 10K race supposedly took me under 30 minutes. Apparently, I finished a half marathon in just over an hour. Sadly for me, the three PBs are not accurate.
Apple Watch Awards gone wrong
I have a general idea of my PBs, but it’s not down to the second. That’s why I went to the Fitness app this week, looking for the fastest half marathon time my Apple Watch recorded. In the Fitness app, you’ll want to tap the Awards section, then look for Workouts and tap the Show All button. You’ll see all your awards, including your fastest times. I noticed my fastest 5K, 10K, and half marathon times were off. They displayed the wrong time, wrong date, and the workout listed under each of them did not actually match the Award data, as you’ll see below.
Fastest 5K: 13:13. Workout Time: 31:02.
Chris Smith
Fastest 10K: 28:03. Workout Time: 31:02 (the same as Fastest 5K time, date included).
Chris Smith
Fastest half marathon: 1:07:10. Workout time: 2:16:11.
That said, my fastest marathon time was accurate, which is surprising. It’s unclear what caused these data inconsistencies. I’m running the stable watchOS 26 release on my Apple Watch Series 10 rather than a beta version. Also, the Fitness app handles the Apple Watch Awards, not the watch itself. I didn’t notice these inconsistencies earlier this summer.
A quick search online showed that other people might have the same issue. An Apple Watch user shared a similar experience a few weeks ago. In this case, the Awards system recorded a slower 5K time than their personal best. Their 10K time was correct, however. That post did not receive a response on Apple’s community forums, as of this writing.
