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TikTok GPS art
Screengrabs via @dinkbalshin/Tiktok

‘He’ll literally go the distance’: Women swoon as runner attains peak eligibility by turning his workout maps into an animated short

He's smart, fit, and funny, too? What can this man not do?

GPS art has been quite popular in recent years, with some runners, cyclists, and hikers meticulously planning their routes to create drawings on a map. One runner named Duncan McCabe, however, took it to the next level by creating an animated video of a dancing dude that he brought to life based on the routes on his runs.

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The 27-second video went viral, and Jacob Balshin (@dinkbalshin) was one of the people who reacted to it. Although he was impressed with Duncan’s animation, he pleaded for him to stop. In his TikTok post, he said, “If you’re the guy who’s using his run charts to create this dancing flip-book character, I need you to stop.” According to him, women would see his incredible achievement and realize that Duncan is in great shape from all the running, and has a sense of humor, too, based on the dancing character he made. And that’s just not fair in terms of getting the attention of the ladies. “I can’t compete with that. I got none of that dude,” Jacob said.

Many commented on Jacob’s video, pointing out that not only was Duncan fit and funny, but he was also smart for figuring out how to plot the routes to take to create the animation. “My brain can’t even figure out how he did this… so he’s smart, in shape, and funny,” one commented. “And he’ll literally go the distance,” another added. Commenters were impressed with Duncan, even highlighting how fast his pace was, which goes to show how right Jacob was when he implied that Duncan was a magnet for the ladies. “Toronto dating IS rough,” one user wrote, to which Jacob replied, “Yeah, cuz we’re competing with this man.”

Duncan, a 32-year-old accountant from Ontario, is a runner and animation aficionado, who enjoys creating short films as a hobby. According to him, it took 10 months and 700 miles to complete the video. He used Strava, a social networking app that tracks the activities of cyclists, runners, walkers, hikers, and others who want to analyze and share their routes and activities. The entire video of the dancing man took him 120 runs, averaging about 6 miles each run. And although it took almost a year to complete, Duncan said he’s always been driven to complete his goals. “If I have a long-term vision, I’m willing to work for a very long time. Each piece of art is a frame, and if you combine them, you can turn frames into motion,” he said, per The Washington Post.

@duncan77mccabe

Strava art animation through the streets of Toronto! This took me 121 runs from January to October 2024. #strava #running #toronto #purplehat #active #run #Canada #motivation #madden25 #ncaa #purple #hat #sofitukker #sofi #tukker

♬ original sound – Duncan McCabe

The runner used PowerPoint to figure out the route of his runs so he could visualize what the stick figure would look like when the maps were stitched together. Admittedly, he said he sometimes looked “ridiculous” while running, as he had to follow a certain path to create the figure that he wanted. “Objectively, it was a bad running experience,” he said.

Dunan saw Jacob’s TikTok post. He commented that he saw Jacob during one of his runs eating a sub on a bench. “Duncan, we could have shared that sub lady and the tramp style,” Jacob replied. Duncan replied, back and said, he was happily married, adding “I’m of no danger to you or the men of Toronto!” Although that’s disappointing news for all the interested ladies, that’s one less competition for Jacob to worry about.


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Author
Image of Jean Mendoza
Jean Mendoza
Jean has been a freelance writer since 2007 and has contributed to outlets such as Lomography, Inquisitr, and Grunge. Her expertise include true crime, history, and weird and interesting facts. Her spare time is spent listening to podcasts, reading books, and gaming.