Casio America has released the G-SHOCK GBD-300 smartwatch in the G-SQUAD line to track distance, pace, steps, and calories during marathons and workouts. The new watches feature a slimmer, more compact body than traditional models, with comfort enhanced by a textured band that prevents sticking due to sweat while ensuring a non-slip fit. The durable body is water resistant to 20 bar and uses two separate bezels to protect the main module from shocks that would damage ordinary watches.

The high-contrast, monochrome LCD display provides good visibility for the time, date, and alarms in daylight. Additional features include 4 alarms, a countdown timer, a stopwatch, and 38 world times. The memory-in-pixel (MIP) LCD is protected by the raised bezel and can be automatically lit by the Super Illuminator LED light by a simple tilt of the wrist.

The health tracking features of the G-SHOCK GBD-300 include distance, speed, pace, and calories burned for up to a hundred runs. The selectable log view displays step count for each day of the week or running distance for the month.

Bluetooth low energy connectivity with smartphones enables notifications of calls, emails, calendar events, and social media posts. Notifications can be set to sound the alarm or vibrate the watch. Added capabilities using the G-SHOCK MOVE app include training plan creation, data logging, and GPS distance correction.

Besides taking a tough CASIO G-SHOCK watch on your next marathon, make sure you are wearing shock-absorbing running shoes (like these on Amazon). The new G-SQUAD GBD-300 series arrives in July in black (GBD-300-1), white (GBD-300-7), and yellow (GBD-300-9).

The GBD-300 measures 48.9 x 47.4 x 14.9 mm and weighs 60 grams. The watch runs two years on a CR2032 lithium battery. The shock-resistant watch is rated 20 bar for water resistance.