Garmin Owns the Wrist and Bought MyLaps to Own the Entire Race Experience — From Registration to Finish Line

Most Garmin watchers noted the MyLaps acquisition in 2025 and moved on. The Q4 2025 earnings call on 18 February 2026 revealed ambitions that go considerably further than most had realised — perhaps as far as the entire end-to-end athlete experience: sleep, training, planning, registration, race day, results.

MyLaps is the world’s leading race timing technology company, providing transponder-based systems across running, cycling, triathlon, motorsport and equestrian events. Its infrastructure handles timing, registration, results and athlete identification. When you cross a finish line at a major race and see your time on the board within seconds, the technology is almost certainly MyLaps.

During the earnings call, Tigress Financial Partners analyst Ivan Feinseth asked chief executive Cliff Pemble about the acquisition’s halo effect. Pemble’s answer outlined an ambition that goes well beyond a technology bolt-on:

MyLaps allows us the opportunity to improve the overall race experience for customers from the sign-up process on through to race day, in race results and the devices that they wear during the race. We feel like this is going to give us a high level of fidelity with customers as they embrace and pursue these race activities.

Sign-up, race day, results, and the device on the wrist. That is end-to-end ownership of the athlete’s competitive experience. For a runner, it means Garmin could plausibly be the platform through which you discover a race, register for it, prepare using Garmin Coach, wear a Forerunner on the start line, have your splits tracked by MyLaps timing mats, and receive your results directly in Garmin Connect before you have collected your medal – or received your digital Garmin Challenge badge.

Pemble also addressed the breadth of the opportunity: “One of the benefits of MyLaps is that it’s across many different markets — running is one, but they also do racing and are also moving into equine as well.” The equine reference connects directly to Garmin’s Blaze Equine Wellness System, launched in Q3 2025 — a health-monitoring platform for horses. MyLaps already operates in equestrian timing, and the data integration possibilities across both products are real.

Garmin Connect already partners with Ahotu, an independent global race calendar, to surface events within the app — a modest but telling signal of the direction of travel.

For non-runners, the case is equally compelling. MyLaps powers timing at karting, cycling and amateur circuit events globally. Garmin’s Catalyst performance analyser for track driving and the newly announced Zūmo XT3 motorcycle GPS position the company to leverage MyLaps data to deepen the on-track experience across two- and four-wheeled vehicles.

Garmin wants to be indispensable to athletes, not just during training but at the competitive moments that define why we train at all. Race day is when a Garmin customer’s identity as an athlete is most acute. Owning that experience — from registration to results — creates a depth of brand relationship that no competitor can replicate by making a better watch.

Take Out

This is a long-game acquisition whose full value will take many months to become apparent.

The article has focused on the tangible benefits of organisers managing races and athletes using Garmin Connect. Think also about Garmin’s branding opportunities throughout the entire race booking and running experience – it will potentially have GARMIN branded throughout. If it’s your first race and you’re thinking of buying your first device. What brand might spring to mind?

Last Updated on 20 February 2026 by the5krunner

the5krunner

tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors.