you can set the amount of pace smoothing in the setup which may help. pace smoothing affects the auto-pause as it has to average down to zero before it pauses. it uses smart recording by default which only records data when necessary which seems to average a data point every 5 seconds on most of my runs. When I run a steady run on flat terrain I see my pace vary about 10 seconds/mile with pace smoothing set to the second lowest setting.
Your elevation gain for most runs will be about 2x reality because of the signal bouncing around. I use Ascent software (for Macs only) which does smoothing and ignores elevation changes below a preset value. The Motionbased website corrects elevation data by using topo elevation data. This brings the elevation gain to the same value as a barometric altimeter.

Is there a chance that you bumped your wrist into something that pressed the start button? I wore my 305 snowboarding last week in Breck, just because I was excited to track all the altitude changes (which it was much more accurate than I expected from reading this board), and to know max speed, track total distance traveled each day and perhaps even look up which runs I had done / missed.... well I was disappointed on the last day when I got the nerve to finish off the double blacks my list; when checking my watch, I realized I must have accidentally turned it off during on of my many falls... no proof, no witnesses... oh in that case I never fell once.

Don't use the current pace function at all! It jumps around, not because of arm swinging or variability in your pace, but from the point-in-time accuracy of GPS (~10-40 feet). Unavoidable (though you can use the smoothing). Like others have said, just use "current lap pace" function and set "autolap" to whatever distance/time you want. 1 mile works for me for most training and racing, though I used a 1/4 mile autolap for a 2-mile race I did. Current lap pace will also, of course, reset any time you hit the lap button. You can use this for impromptu interval sessions. Depending on how many satelites you are acquiring at any given time, I've found that any pace estimate provided by GPS under about 1/4 mile distance should be treated with suspicion.

Rik

Ah! I missed that one :-)

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I've been using mine for a while and it seems to be pretty darn good even with pace smoothing.
but the average pace idea is good..
Butoverall seems to do a pretty job of reflecting my current pace. Only time it goes a but nuttyis if I run in a tunnel or under a bridge for a few minutes. Then it may take a minute or two or three to get on track and recalculate my pace.

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Trying to find ways to pass the time.