Toronto man goes viral for creating animated stick man using running routes on Strava app
A Toronto accountant, Duncan McCabe, has captured global attention after spending months running through the streets of the city to create a flip animation featuring a dancing stick man. Using the route-tracking app Strava, McCabe’s project seamlessly combined his love for running and video editing, leading to a viral sensation. The creative video has amassed 25 million views on X (formerly Twitter) and over nine million views on TikTok.
Captioning the video as “Strava art animation through the streets of Toronto! This took me 121 runs from January to October 2024,” McCabe meticulously mapped out each run to bring his stick man to life. Inspired by Strava artists Lenny Maughan from San Francisco and Mike Scott from Toronto—who famously used GPS routes to create unique drawings—McCabe set out to make his own mark with a nod to his favorite song.
"For six months, I had a line across the stick man's head for animation. The hat-tip was a creative touch and a tribute to the song," McCabe shared in an interview with Canada Running. He also emphasized the difficulty of keeping the stick figure consistent, saying, “My stick man had to be the same size in each frame. I spent 10 months planning the project.”
Since going viral, McCabe has received widespread praise from both the running community and social media fans, who marveled at his dedication and the execution of his unique idea. Comments flooded in, calling it “one of the most impressive things" they had seen. One user said, “The amount of effort and planning that goes into this is insane,” while another hailed it as "the greatest running-related post" ever.
This isn’t the first time McCabe has created large-scale running art. Last year, he completed an animation featuring animals like dinosaurs, giraffes, whales, and sharks, running a total of 700 kilometers through Toronto's streets.
In a similar vein of using GPS for art, a UK runner, Terry Rosoman, made headlines earlier this month by drawing a giant penis across South Wales to raise awareness and funds for men's mental health. Covering 120 kilometers in 24 hours, Rosoman cheekily mentioned his intention of becoming the top Google search saying “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.”
I’ve seen a lot of the Toronto running community, but this guy wins. pic.twitter.com/il9LBXyiSD
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) November 21, 2024
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River Ganga pollution: SC stays NGT order imposing Rs 50,000 cost on Bihar
New Delhi, Mar 29 (PTI): The Supreme Court has stayed the National Green Tribunal order that imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on the Bihar government for non-compliance of its directives and not properly assisting it in a matter relating to the prevention and control of pollution of river Ganga.
In its order passed on October 15 last year, the tribunal had also directed Bihar's chief secretary to remain present before it virtually to apprise it about the progress made for the prevention and control of pollution in river Ganga.
The state government's plea challenging the tribunal's order came up for a hearing before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih.
The bench issued notice to the Centre and others seeking their responses on the plea within four weeks.
"Until further orders, there shall be stay of the impugned order," the bench said in its order passed on Friday.
The tribunal is considering the issue of prevention and control of pollution of river Ganga and the matter is being taken up state-wise, covering all the states and districts from which the river and its tributaries flow.
The tribunal had noted in its order that it had earlier considered the issue of water quality of river Ganga and its tributaries in Bihar.
It had directed the state authorities to submit water sample analysis report by taking samples at the point where the tributary merges with river Ganga and also at the point of entry and exit of the river in Bihar.
"The above directions have not been complied with, and no report by the state of Bihar or all the districts of the state of Bihar from which river Ganga and its tributaries are flowing has been filed till now," the tribunal had said in its October last year order.
It had directed the state's chief secretary to remain virtually present on the next date to apprise the tribunal about the progress made for prevention and control of pollution of river Ganga and compliance of the directions contained in the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order 2016.
