Imagine a world divided into small pieces. A world covered by a net of squares. Each time you record a running activity with GPS data and upload this activity your freshly conquered tiles switch color and are added to your collection.

This is the principle behind calculations like Statshunter (needs a Strava account with your activites to calculate the heatmap and stats) or the Tiles Counter accessible in Runalyze as beta feature under premium subscription.

What an amazing idea for everyone interested in exploring new areas, for everyone who wants to make sure a specific area is “really” covered. Soon new tracks for running are created with the intention to collect new tiles – to extend the explored area – to wipe out the grey spots on the map. It made us run in areas we would never have visited without these tools – it made us to enter the most unlikely and most remote areas.

Funny enough the tiles at Runalyze (1,2 x 0,6 km) and Statshuter (1 x 1 mi) have different sizes so the heatmaps look different:

All-in-all a great way to view and analyze your Strava/Runalyze database. Have fun exploring!