Caulfield stood in for the southern tip of South America. Mitchell said it was fun jogging the Melbourne CBD, aka Alaska, although he and his friends slowed to a walk when the route took them through the State Library of Victoria, and inside several arcades.
Collingwood stood in for the top of Canada, before the run finished back in Kew on the afternoon of August 5. He said he felt “overwhelming satisfaction”.
Mitchell received a shout-out post from Strava, the app he used, which is accessible to millions of its users. There were 60,000 likes.
While there were complaints he missed places, such as Antarctica, comments were overwhelmingly positive, such as: “Wow happy birthday – you are damn crazy – absolutely insane and brilliant at the same time.”
The GPS running art, which he displays on Instagram under gpsartguru, started four years ago, when Mitchell’s jogging group, Mornington Misfits, noticed the running route on an app around Mount Martha, south-east of Melbourne, resembled the Sesame Street character Big Bird.
That became the Big Bird Trail, a 9km course that hundreds have now run.
Mitchell has since created 50 each of both street art (15km to 50km) and park art (2km to 4km) routes.
On Friday, Mitchell and his friends ran a new 57km route in the shape of a goose across suburbs like Frankston, Pearcedale and Seaford. It was a tribute to Ed, a goose Mitchell would see on runs through Rosebud, that was recently killed by a fox.
Peter Mitchell (right) and friend Tom Dade in the State Library of Victoria during the world map run.
Mitchell, of Safety Beach, a type 1 diabetic, said jogging is good for his health, but he gets bored running the same route.
He said the running app art added interest and focus to the runs, although it required concentration to stick to. “I guess it’s a challenge,” he said.
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