There’s no denying that Boston is full of tough, sporty citizens. (Just take a look at the Sochi Olympic line up if you don’t believe me.) Despite the threats of Winter Storm Pax, it’s not uncommon to see spandex clad runners taking a loop around the Common while flurries fall from on high.
While the iPhones strapped to their arms might be bumping Beyoncé, there’s a good chance that it’s also tallying up mileage and tracking speed via the Boston-born fitness app RunKeeper.
A statistician from FlowingData recently used the wealth of public data captured by RunKeeper to create heat maps of 22 cities in the U.S., Canada and Europe to show on which paths runners put foot to pavement most frequently. The fact that RunKeeper has garnered this much quality data goes to show its successful user acquisition. Since its inception in 2007, the 40-person company has brought 23 million Android and iOS users onto the fitness app. With these glowing maps, RunKeeper's user data is being put to constructive and creative use.
The most trafficked paths appear in thicker, brighter lines, while the less popular routes are fainter.
Of course, the data isn’t representative of all runners, but just those that use the app. Results may also be skewed by university gyms and races following a set course, like the Boston Marathon.
It comes as no surprise that, on Beantown’s map, the trails alongside either banks of the Charles River stand out, as well as around the Harbor area. Back Bay crops up as one of the most heavily travelled neighborhoods; for Cambridge, however, Memorial Drive seems like the only spot people go for a good outdoor workout (students are too hungover or holed up in the library, perhaps?). And barely any runners are tearing it up in South Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, Allston-Brighton, Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury, Mattapan or Hyde Park.
Looking to shake up your regular route? Take a look at the maps below and see where all the cool kids are running in Boston and around the world.
