A man in the Canadian city of Toronto has gone viral after he spent months creating a video of his running routes by turning it into a flip animation that appears like a dancing stick man. Using the route-tracking app Strava, Duncan McCabe (32), an accountant by profession, blended his passion for running and editing to create the viral video. As of the last update, the video had racked up 25 million views on X (formerly Twitter) and over nine million hits on short-video platform, TikTok.

“Strava art animation through the streets of Toronto! This took me 121 runs from January to October 2024,” read the video caption.

Mr McCabe said he was inspired by San Francisco Strava artist Lenny Maughan and Toronto’s Mike Scott, who drew a giant beaver across the city using his bike’s GPS route in 2022.

“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,” Mr McCabe was quoted as saying by Canada Running.

“My stick man had to be the same size in the frames. I mapped it out for 10 months,” he added.

After the video went viral, adulation started pouring in for Mr McCabe, both from the running community as well as social media users who were simply blown away by the planning and flawless execution of the idea.

“This is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen anyone do,” said one user, while 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.”

I’ve seen a lot of the Toronto running community, but this guy wins. pic.twitter.com/il9LBXyiSD

— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) November 21, 2024

This is not the first time when Mr McCabe has managed to create running art of such scale. Last year, he posted an animation of various animals in the streets of Toronto by running 700 kilometres. The stick figures included a dinosaur, a giraffe, a whale and a shark.

Also Read | UK Man Creates Giant GPS Penis Drawing To Raise Money For Charity

GPS penis

Earlier this month, a man in the UK created a giant GPS drawing of a penis across South Wales to raise awareness and money for men’s mental health issues. Terry Rosoman, 39, took 24 hours to scrawl the record-breaking drawing by running 120 kilometres.

“Am I doing this to secure my name as the first result on Google when someone searches “world’s largest c**k and balls”? Absolutely. However, I also have a far nobler cause in mind,” said Rosoman in an Instagram post.