French runner posts cheeky GPS drawing in online game
A runner in Rennes has delighted internet users by posting an image of the route of his 22.8km run - captured on a map by his GPS app - which he deliberately made in the shape of a cheeky weasel.
Local triathlete, Ironman and ultra-marathoner Nicolas Verdes on his this week, alongside hashtags including #gpsdrawing and #lesptitsdoudous (鈥渓ittle cuddly toys鈥�).
The post is part of a growing online trend called 鈥淕PS drawing鈥�, in which runners or bikers use their GPS tracking apps to 鈥渄raw鈥� shapes with their routes.
The app (on a phone or watch carried by the sportsperson themselves) tracks the route taken, using GPS technology, and later produces a record of it after the session is complete. Users can then post their 鈥渕aps鈥� online using social media.
The technology was initially designed to help exercisers track and measure their training, but it has since mushroomed into a tongue-in-cheek online game.
In France, triathlete Marine Leleu and the cyclist Samuel Berthe have helped to popularise the practice.
Animal shapes are popular; in recent months, Ms Leleu in Paris.
Mr Berthe in Nantes.
This is not the first shape that Verdes has drawn to positive reactions; in January this year, he drew a map within a map, running a 34km detailed 鈥渙utline of France鈥� around central Paris.
