Metronomes:

Metronomes. You know, those little devices you buy at your local music store that musicians are always blaming for themselves playing out of time with their band mates?

Trust me, they are almost as accurate as an atomic clock for practical purposes, musicians that bitch about them are usually just looking for excuses for their own shortcomings.

For those on a tight budget, who cannot afford Garmin watches and other running gadgets, metronomes work perfectly for keeping your pace.

Don't buy an old-school metronome with a swaying hand, you want an electronic one that simply clicks at the rate you set it at.

You can synchronize it with a treadmill, so you know what setting to put it on to correspond with a particular mile-per-hour pace.

The hardest part is figuring out how to get it fastened near ear level so that you can hear it during a race, or training run. Then you simply match your stride to the clicking speed of the metronome.

Simple, cheap, unorthodox means to keep you on pace during your runs.