Winter can be a tough time for even the most devoted runners. Between sub-zero temperatures, icy paths, and a lack of fun races on the horizon, motivation is at an all-time low. So if you’re dreading lacing up your sneakers, check out these adorable GPS creations for a little inspiration.
Runners and bikers are using their GPS-based tracking apps to plot out their routes in tons of fun shapes, from adorable pandas to pints of beer. One British runner even proposed to his girlfriend in a carefully planned 5.71 mile route (and she said yes!).
Photo: Ben Chudley/Facebook
There’s also a woman who prefers to spice up her runs with more, shall we say…salacious shapes, and now maintains a cheeky Tumblr blog filled with GPS genitalia.
Here, our nine favorite examples of GPS art:
A running woman
A Thanksgiving turkey
Happy Thanksgiving – All the social media. #turkeyride
A big thumbs up for beer
This run's an ode to my best friend! It's called "Thumbs Up for Beer." 👍🍺 Tag me your run-draws this week and I'll regram my fave! Hint: make it a little inappropriate ❤️💊👌 #runningdrawing #rundraw #rundicks #nikeplusart #nikeplusrunning #nikeplus #chicksrundicks #mission
A cute whale
昨年、会社組合のイベントでやったGPSアート。上野公園スタートし3時間半かけて地球に絵を描きました（≧∇≦） こういった楽しみ方もたまには良いかも？( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
Clearly @wallygpx is the most talented GPS artist, based on these masterpieces:
King Kong attacking the Empire State Building
*Yesterday's enormous King Kong-inspired ride had me halfway the empire state building! I worked so hard on this one, but unfortunately made a mistake….& my ape head morphed into that of a sloth! #oops #madewithGPS #cycling #mtb #GPS #satellitetracking #art #mapart #locationart #MapMyRide #MyTracks #digitalspraypaint #Baltimore #SlothKong #KingKong on #empirestatebuilding in #nyc #swatting at #airplanes #gpsart #bmore #PattersonPark #trickingmyselfintoexercise #ineedalltheexerciseicanget #thxforthefollow #tellyourfriends #grateful
A World War II fighter jet
*Happy 94th birthday to my absolutely amazing grandfather… he says he's lucky, I say he's bravest man I've ever known. His story is beyond incredible & I honestly have no business being alive nor participating in any of this GPSering if it wasn't for what he survived; 30 daytime bombing missions with The Mighty 8th. I rode this B-17 flying fortress in his honor, and as a tribute to the survivors & brazen men who gave their lives for our freedom #homeofthebrave #thankyou #leadbombardier #WWII #TheMightyEighth #mighty8th #B17 #bomber #USA #cycling #mtb #streetart #drawing #GPSdrawing #GPSart #satellitetrackingart #grandpa #flyingfortress #30missionsurvivor
A game of ping-pong, complete with players
*"Raw" look at Season 5's 3D GPS ping pong ride! #mtb #GPSasketch #GPSadventure #virtualstreetart #pingpong #tabletennis #Baltimore
Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster
*Standard map look at my newest lakemonster ride…! #madewithGPS on #MTB in #BaltimoreCity #cycling #mountainbike #creativeexcercise #mapmyride #mytracks #strava #satellitetrackingart #mapart #GPSart #GPSasketch #virtualstreetart #baltimorestreetart #bmorestreetart #streetart #monster #chessie #nessie #lochnessmonster #plesiosaur -ish #lakemonster #seamonster #GPSdrawing #GPS #drawing #bikedrawing #trickingmyselfintoexercise #ineedalltheexerciseicanget
And—most impressive of all—the world
*"The round of 16" begins today! #worldcup #knockout #futbol #soccer #tournament Showing is a reprise look at S4ride77: "Continental Drift"…! #madewithGPS on my #mtb through the streets of #Baltimore #GPSadventure #GPSasketch #digitalspraypaint #world #earth #globe #global #continents #northamerica #southamerica #europe #africa #asia #australia #map #mapart #locationart #GPSart #trickingmyselfintoexercise #ineedalltheexerciseicanget #WallyGPX
If you want to make your own GPS creations, there are a ton of running apps to choose from. The most popular is MapMyRun, and they even hosted their own contest to find the best GPS art last year. RunKeeper, Nike+, and Strava Run are good options as well.
So if it looks like a scene from Frozen outside your window, take a few minutes and plot out an Olaf to trace through the streets. With that distraction, the cold won’t bother you anyway.
