Published on May 6, 2026 at 06:00 AM
Before it became a creative outlet (or social media following), GPS art was just a happy accident for the Australian ultra-runner Peter Mitchell.
About five years ago, the 51-year-old was on a casual hike with friends through a local reserve when the group split up. Peter and a few other racers returned to find those who had gone off the track, making their route a bit messy.
But then, while sitting in a café and scrolling through the running map on Strava, something caught his eye.
“Someone said it looked like a bird, maybe a pelican,” Mitchell recalls. “But I saw something different. It looked like the big bird from Sesame Street.”
Curious, he zoomed in, studied the surrounding streets, and began mentally adjusting the shape — adding a loop here for the foot, extending a section there for the tail. Soon he was drawing a screenshot, mapping out how to play the route more deliberately.
He came back out and did just that.
“It ended up being pretty similar Big bird“From there, it took on a life of its own,” he says.
The art of positioning has evolved
That spontaneous moment quickly developed into something bigger. What started as a fun experience became themed routes, group rides, and a full-blown creative pursuit. Today, Mitchell shares his intricate GPS designs — drawn mile after mile across roads and trails — with his 13,000 Instagram followers as a GPS Art Guru, turning everyday exercises into icon sketches of Kermit the frog to Taylor SwiftLeBron James and Lisa Simpson.
Although GPS art has been around since the 1990s, it began gaining interest among endurance athletes in the 2000s, appearing on Strava and MapMyRun Nourishes. One of the early adopters was Canadian cyclist Steven Lund, who created rides that resembled everything from a T. rex to Darth Vader, and eventually launched gpsdoodles.com To display his works. Others soon followed, including the prolific runner and artist Lenny Maughan (who calls himself “Human Etch A Sketch”) has tracked everything from Frida Kahlo to Coldplay duo Kiss Cam through the streets of San Francisco.
In recent years, advances in GPS technology have made it possible to produce much more accurate results, and Mitchell has driven this shift by collaborating with software engineers to improve tools specifically designed for the art of GPS. He has also experimented with going beyond static map images by animating his work, by combining several GPS artworks into a GIF video/cycle, similar to a digital flipbook.
Pursuing accuracy in the art of GPS.
But this accuracy was not easily achieved. They were built over years of experimentation — testing hardware, reworking routes, overlaying designs on satellite maps, and lots of reconnaissance missions before going into operation. Each image can take hours, if not several days, to complete.
“I’m always thinking about what’s possible next,” he says. “It’s something that keeps evolving. I’m always thinking about what’s possible next and trying to turn those ideas into reality.”
Getting into roadblocks
This does not mean that he did not face some challenges on the way to creating his masterpieces. On a three-hour trip designed to follow Lionel Messi’s image along the Australian coast, Mitchell returned to find his parked car partially submerged by an unexpected tide. (The car was completely destroyed, but the artwork — and the story behind it — went viral.) He also often has to get creative in adapting his planned route, especially when construction sites, fences, or other obstacles cause a detour.
“What looks like a simple connection on a map may turn out to be a hallway, an underground passage, or a building interior,” he adds. “I’ve ended up running in places like shopping arcades, hospital lobbies, and even the state library. A lot of it is about adapting in real time while still trying to keep the design as accurate as possible.”
Where inspiration strikes
How does Mitchell decide what to paint next?
Part of the answer lies in timing. Many of his approaches are shaped by cultural moments or seasonal hooks. Last spring, he unveiled a rotating globe for Earth Day.
In March, he organized a group race in Melbourne to track horse form for the Lunar New Year. On Halloween, he drew a skeleton. On his 50th birthday, he spent a total of 19 hours and 10 minutes running the 105-mile route. World map.
His running buddies also say: “I often do activities with friends. Sometimes they’ll have an idea, I’ll design it, and then we’ll go out and do it together.” “It’s evolved into something much bigger than just a finished image. It’s about the idea, the vision, the process, the story, and finding ways to show how it all comes together.”
GPS technical tips from the guru himself
Peter Mitchell’s pro tips for creating your own Miles masterpiece.
Get the tools: Using a planning tool can make a big difference. Mitchell recommends Route Sketcher and GPS Artify as good starting points for learning how to design and follow GPX routes.
Free first: Free modes open up the creative process. You can upload images to trace, draw your own designs by hand, and then place, resize, and rotate them anywhere — from parks to beaches to open fields. Once completed, the design can be exported as a GPX file and followed on a GPS device.
Start simple: Save Frida KTK. Simple scheme and focus on getting a clean result rather than trying to do something too complicated right away.
Be big: Larger designs tend to work better, because they include more turns, have more flexibility, and give more detail. Open areas in particular reduce GPS noise and make it easier to create accurate, recognizable shapes.
