Duncan McCabe, a 32-year-old accountant from Toronto, has gone viral for his unique running animation. He used the Strava app to track his routes and turned them into a flip animation featuring a dancing stick figure. The video quickly gained popularity, with 25 million views on X (formerly Twitter) and over nine million on TikTok.
McCabe’s video was the result of 121 runs from January to October 2024. He captioned the video, “Strava art animation through the streets of Toronto! This took me 121 runs from January to October 2024.” His inspiration came from Strava artists like Lenny Maughan from San Francisco and Mike Scott from Toronto. In 2022, Scott used his bike’s GPS to draw a giant beaver across the city.
I’ve seen a lot of the Toronto running community, but this guy wins. pic.twitter.com/il9LBXyiSD
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) November 21, 2024
Creating the animation took six months of work. McCabe explained, “For six months, I had a line across the stick person’s head that was used for animation. The hat-tip adds creativity and is a nod to the song.” He also made sure the stick figure stayed the same size in each frame. “My stick man had to be the same size in the frames. I mapped it out for 10 months,” he added.
Once the video went viral, McCabe received a lot of praise. Many were impressed by the planning and effort involved. One user said, “This is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen anyone do.” Another added, “The amount of effort and planning that goes into this is insane.” A third commented, “This is the greatest running-related post I’ve ever seen. And I don’t think it can be outdone.”
This isn’t McCabe’s first Strava art project. Last year, he ran 700 kilometres to create animations of various animals, including a dinosaur, giraffe, whale, and shark, across Toronto’s streets. His ability to blend running with creativity continues to wow audiences.
