People often take up running because it seems like a simple enough exercise, and shouldn't involve too much expensive gear. Normally, I'd tell you to invest in a good jog bra, some appropriate clothing for the heat or cold and some good shoes. That's enough for most people, but if you are any bit OCD at all, you MUST HAVE the Garmin Forerunner 301.
It keeps time like a regular old watch, it will clock your distance more accurately than any pedometer, and estimates calories burned better than any treadmill. For those that seek instant gratification, this is your gadget! In the old running days, you'd have to rely on laps around the track or getting to the end of your run before obtaining your pace. Because of the GPS satellites, the Garmin tells you instantly EXACTLY how far you have run and exactly how fast you are running at any instant.
A few other bells & whistles can be found on the Amazon sale page, but the ones that I actually use are the heart rate monitor for speed work and the time/distance alerts. Both the time and distance alerts are customizable- mine go off at walk breaks (on longer runs) and every mile split. It will do some basic mapping on the watch for you and you can download a running workout. It's also multi-sport for hiking, biking or skiing. 
Now, to the really good stuff for the running obsessed. The little engineer in me loves all these numbers, graphs and charts. The main software page shows every week's runs, which is expandable to show individual running days. The map on the right shows only major roads, but it's helpful enough that I can "rerun" a route if I am aiming for a specific distance. The graphs on bottom are again customizable to show your pace/speed and/or heart rate as you clocked off the miles.
Instead of the map view, you can click on the other tab to see your splits (which can be set for any measurable increment). Here I have splits set a mile, and it shows you the total time, speed, pace and calories burned for the entire run and for each mile split.
By moving the cross-hairs on the graph, it will call out the actual value as well as the distance at that reading. The map above will also turn cyan on the data point that you are currently targeted on the graph. I'd say it's worth the upgrade to the 301 (over the 101 and 201), but I doubt most people would need to spend the extra $$ on the 305. It's got a great battery life, recharges via USB and is totally addicting. HAPPY RUNNING!
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: At mile 12, it's amazing how happy the little buzzer makes me.
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