'No other smartwatch has this feature': the Apple Watch's most innovative running feature is one you've probably never used

Most cities and large towns — usually anywhere with a college or university presence or an outdoor sports center — have an oval 400-meter running track that's open to the public. Large cities like London have quite a few.

I've been using the best Apple Watches and testing them during running workouts for quite a few years now, but I'm not a big track runner. I like long, slow, plodding runs, and I like the change of scenery as I jog.

On the track, there's nowhere to hide, and whether you're doing 200-meter speedwork or lap after lap, the asphalt is punishing. It lays all your sins bare: no hiding poor results behind elevation, traffic stops, or the other variables that occur when running in the real world. So I rocked up to the track wearing my Apple Watch Ultra 3 with more than a little trepidation.

Thankfully, you don't have to fiddle with the Apple Watch settings to properly log your track run efforts, as Apple Watches have a couple of neat features that make track running a bit easier. Unless you're a habitual track runner, you've probably never used these, but I encourage you to find your nearest one and give them a try if you're keen to improve your running performance.

Over the past few years, Apple Watches have leveraged GPS and Apple Maps data to automatically detect when you're near an oval track. When you start an Outdoor Run workout within the vicinity of a track, the Workout app will discover the oval and prompt you to start a track workout. This is genuinely very impressive, and according to an Apple representative, "no other smartwatch has this feature". And you'd never know this feature was in there unless your workout took you past a track!

By selecting Track Workout, you'll be prompted to choose a lane by swiping over to the left-hand tile for more accurate measurement. You can adjust lanes during the course of the workout if you find yourself moving lanes for whatever reason, so you're not locked in. You can then use the segment button to mark laps or sections, such as the 200-meter mark. I was doing interval work, putting a lot of effort behind a 200-meter dash, then using the following 200 meters for recovery.

It took all the guesswork and planning out of using the track, so I could just rock up and do my thing. Apple is great at making your life easier if you use all its tech together. While its closed-loop approach to its ecosystem may be frustrating for users who don't want to invest in everything Apple, it allows all your gadgets to work more or less seamlessly.

In this case, the Apple Maps app interfaces with the Workout app to do all the legwork behind the scenes to guess your intentions — work out on a running track — in a very, dare I say it, agentic way. Having recently switched over to Apple tech in a more permanent capacity than my usual testing, I'm consistently impressed by little features like this — and it's certainly motivated me to add more track work into my training.

Why do track training?

A report from the University of Warwick said that track training, be it sprinting or longer-distance training, is a "controlled environment" that "provides an opportunity to enhance your personal performance".

The track offers the ability to precisely measure distance and pace control without variables like traffic or elevation, and the flat, consistent surface provides opportunities to work on your technique, like cadence and stride.

Running loops rather than a changing landscape requires mental resilience, a bit like the best treadmills, and running track offers an opportunity to develop this mindset too. It takes a special kind of person to run in a circle for hours.

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