Running News Daily

Toronto runner takes Strava art to the next level

Toronto-based accountant Duncan McCabe has taken Strava art to new heights. Blending his passions for video editing and running, he has created a viral TikTok featuring a mesmerizing animation of a Strava-art stick man.

As of Friday morning, McCabe’s dancing Strava video has garnered more than eight million views on social media.

We spoke to McCabe, the artist, who said he was surprised at the video’s viral success. He says he was inspired by San Francisco Strava artist Lenny Maughan and Toronto’s Mike Scott, who famously biked a GPS route of a giant beaver across the city’s east end. In 2023, McCabe created a series of animal drawings leading up to the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

The 32-year-old explained the extensive planning behind his latest project, set to Sofi Tukker’s hit song Purple Hat. “For six months, I had a line across the stick person’s head that was used for animation,” McCabe said. “The hat-tip adds creativity and is a nod to the song.”

McCabe says the biggest challenge was maintaining fluid transitions. “My stick man had to be the same size in the frames,” he explained. “I mapped it out for 10 months.”

McCabe found motivation for the project by consistently seeing his progress and dates on his Strava. “It was the motivating factor for me,” he said.

With viral fame comes scrutiny, and McCabe has faced skepticism on X and TikTok about the video’s diagonal lines. “It’s believable right up until the stick man runs smoothly diagonally through a row of houses again and again,” one user commented.

However, the diagonal lines make his video even more impressive, as McCabe had to start and stop his watch to ensure the lines met precisely at certain points on the map.

Massive kudos!