Marc Charbonneau

A few months ago I picked up Marware’s Sportsuit Relay iPod Nano case. I’ve actually been looking for something like this since the first time I took my iPod running; at the time I was using the Stopwatch to time my laps, and I soon realized that with the Apple armband it’s almost nearly impossible to read the screen or split laps without stopping. The Sportsuit Relay solves this by strapping to your wrist, where it’s much easier to use during a run.

As far as an iPod case goes, it does its job well enough. It protects the iPod, and comes with a nice Nike+ sensor shoe pouch. There’s a little bit of tearing on mine near the bottom where you put the iPod in, but that’s not a big deal. There’s only one real flaw, and unfortunately it’s a big one. It’s sweat; the back of my wrist ends up with a lot more sweat than my upper arm after a long run, and for whatever reason, the Sportsuit case soaks it up.

For short runs, it’s not a big deal. The case gets a little damp, but not enough to cause concern. But after a longer run, or a run in light rain, the case ends up soaked. The screen cover fogs up to the point where you can’t really see the display, and you pretty much have to wipe down your iPod when you take it out. It hasn’t actually caused any problems with my iPod yet, but it’s still pretty alarming. It’s disappointing too, since otherwise this would have made a pretty nice case.