This runner is turning 1,000 km of Strava data into 100 original artworks
Irish artist Jennifer Madden is running 10K a day for 100 days and making a new piece of art from each route
Jen Madden
Most triathletes us upload an activity to Strava, whether it’s swimming, running or cycling with hope for some kudos and move on. Irish artist Jennifer Madden is doing something different with hers. Madden is running 10 kilometres every day for 100 days, then turning each route into an original artwork.
The artist, teacher and published author lives in the southwest England’s Blackdown Hills. She also runs a monthly art mail club and is mother to a toddler. Running has to fit around her family and work, but she says it has become an essential part of her routine. “It clears my head and it’s often where my best ideas for paintings and creative projects come from,” she says.
Madden has run throughout much of her adult life while also trying triathlon, cycling, rowing and swimming. She completed her first marathon in Dublin in 2024.
The idea began in a swimming pool
The idea for the project began with a painting Madden made after completing the 15-kilometre Scilly Swim Challenge in 2025. While looking through her Strava history, she found that she had swum 264,000 metres during her training.
She created a watercolour pool divided into 352 squares, with each one representing 750 metres. Rather than focusing solely on the swim itself, the painting recorded the months of work that came before it. “I wanted the piece to celebrate that—the training, the early mornings and the weekly grind— that training for an endurance event requires,” she says.
From 20K a week to 70K
Before beginning the project, Madden was running 15 to 20 kilometres per week. Moving directly to 70 kilometres was a considerable jump, and she says the opening week was the hardest.
The artwork has also shown her how differently two runs over the same roads can feel. Changes in light, weather, colour and mood produce a new piece each day, even when the mapped route is familiar.
How to make art from your own runs
Runners don’t need Madden’s artistic experience to try something similar. She suggests starting by looking beyond pace and splits. Take a photograph during a run, write a few lines afterward or sketch something you noticed along the way.
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A GPS route can also become the starting point for a drawing, painting, embroidery or collage. Madden now accepts a small number of commissions based on other runners’ activities, including a recent three-piece set made from one runner’s Tokyo, London and Boston marathon routes.
“Creativity doesn’t have to be complicated,” she says. “It often starts with simply noticing something you’ve overlooked before.”
Learn more about Jen Madden’s artwork by heading to her website, here.