A Runner From San Francisco Creates Artwork With His Routes, and They’ll Make You Want to Grab Your Running Shoes Too

A distance runner from San Francisco came up with the unique idea to use the city map as a canvas for creating his pieces of running art. With the help of a special app, Lenny Maughan crafts a running route carefully choosing the paths of the future image beforehand.

Pig Run

Lenny has been creating his illustrations for the past several years. His artwork varies by complexity and the distance Lenny had to cover to get the picture. The runner says that the most difficult part of making his artwork is running up hills, which is an inevitable part of creating almost every masterpiece. Taking a shortcut is not an option either.

Shamrock Run

Barefoot Run

Maughan uses a special fitness app called Strava and MapMyRun that record his routes and provide all the statistics that come along with his runs.

Frida Kahlo Run

Lenny’s feet have drawn many remarkable masterpieces, but it was Frida Kahlo’s portrait that attracted people’s attention and finally shook the internet to take a look at his work. It happened when a friend of his, with the nickname themouth, posted Frida’s running portrait on the Reddit site, mentioning that it took the runner 28.9 miles to complete the picture.

Taco Run

Chopsticks Run

The process of planning the route takes quite a bit of Lenny’s time. He first draws the picture he wants to get on the map and goes through several repetitions before he starts the “art” process. Lenny himself admits that sometimes sketching a picture takes more time than running it. He always has to be extremely careful when running because taking a wrong turn might spoil the whole picture.

Wired Run

Puzzle Run

Maughan doesn’t take requests and never reveals what his next work will depict — it all comes as a surprise to his friends and followers.

Cat Run

Bonus: There’s an annual bike event called “Turkey Ride.” Bikers gather in San Francisco and follow the intricate “turkey” route.