I've bought numerous watches over the years, and could never find one that fit my needs exactly: that one didn't have a digital watch-face, this one's band was too thick, and another one's watch-face was just too big. I would buy another watch in about 2-3 months because I wasn't able to find something that consistently worked for me AND fit my price range.

This was about the 5th or 6th time I was buying a watch in a year, and I was more than ready to be done with watch-shopping. So, hearing good things about Timex from several friends, I decided to give yet another watch (this time a more trusted brand) a chance. And boy, am I glad I did.

I have been SO impressed by this Marathon. The watch band is neither too small or big, and the watch face is small enough that it doesn't dig into my arm if I bend my wrist.

I've almost never taken the watch off in the time since I bought it, and it's none the worse for wear. It's come with me multiple times in the shower, a pool, and even a lake, perfectly keeping time after each. The battery has never stopped or malfunctioned either, something I've experienced with countless other digital watches.

One important thing to note: The owner's manual (which can be found here: http://assets.timex.com/manual/W-292.pdf ) says you should NOT press any of the timer/set-up/indiglo buttons while in water. Because I followed this advice, my watch has continued to work after being underwater. Use common sense!

I also love the alarm and glow-in-the-dark features. What better way to wake up than hear a friendly traditional beeping noise and shove your glowing watch in your face to make sure you haven't lost your job because of tardiness? :D All jokes aside, the alarm noise is perfect if you need something loud to rouse a deep sleeper. Yes, it's harsher than something you would find on a smartphone, but it works! And the glow-in-the-dark face is super handy.

In conclusion? There's a reason Timex is a trusted brand. If you're in the market for a new digital watch, look no further. You've found it!

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Negatives:
1. Absolutely no instructions for setup in included. Must use online manual.
2. Absolutely no instructions in online manual for setting alpha day of the week. I finally figured it out by pure accident. Displaying the alpha day of the week (Sunday through Saturday) is not done directly. It is set automatically based on your choosing the correct month, date, and year. Here are the instructions for setting up entire correct time / date:

A. On default date/time screen, press and hold top left button to make date disappear and begin setting hour, minutes, year, month, date, and seconds in that order. You may have to press and release this button before holding it down allows you to begin setting the watch.
B. Press bottom left button once to select hour, minutes, current year, month, date and seconds in that order. Each choice will blink to allow you to scroll to make a selection. For year, your choices are 2020-2099.
C. Press top right button to scroll through choices for each option. Choosing the correct current month, day, and YEAR is what automatically sets the DAY of the week (Sunday-Saturday).
D. Press bottom left button to set each choice and cause the next choice to automatically blink.
E. Use top left button to set all choices once you are finished.

3. Timer works well but after a few minutes, it reverts back to default date / time screen during a run, making it very inconvenient to check my running time. The timer continues tracking my time accurately, but I can't see it or pause it without pressing the bottom left button multiple times to bring the timer back into view. Very annoying flaw.

Watch still works after years but the band ripped so I would need to get crafty to keep using it.

This is my favorite go everywhere, do everything with me watch. I bought it to replace the previous 1440 watch (essentially the same watch as the marathon) I'd used for several years. I change my own batteries, but this watch's design is such that changing the battery is tricky. The instructions just say take it to a jeweler (which is going to cost you at least the price of a replacement watch). In my ignorance, I think I shorted out the previous watch. Now that I know what the scoop is, I think I can successfully change the battery on this one in the future. Before you attempt to change the battery, go online (YouTube) and look into it. They no longer offer the color choice I had before (dark metallic copper color), and I really don't care for this pink (it's exactly what you see here). Should have gone with the black/silver but the details said it was just a tiny bit larger than this one and I wanted to be sure that the watchbands (which were new) that I "harvested" from my prev watch would fit this replacement. On the upside, the watch face is easy to read, it's easy to set and I really like the lighting feature (to read it in the dark).

I love this watch. This is my third one, first broke after a year from swimming in a very deep pool for a while so that was my fast. The second I had for over 4 years so it was starting to not work as well. Regardless best watch ever, and at $20-$30, buying a new one every so often isn't bad.