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Ultrarunner draws viral “hyperpigmentation” meme on Strava

Australian Strava art guru Peter Mitchell has knack for combining running and pop culture

Hyperpigmentation meme Photo by: Peter GPS Artist

The blend of running and art continues to evolve and reach new heights each week. Australian ultrarunner Peter Mitchell is gaining popularity after using his Strava page to emphasize his strong connection with pop culture references. Known as “Peter GPS Artist” on Strava, Mitchell shared a 9-km route to the fitness app on Monday, which bore a striking resemblance to the viral meme known as “Hyperpigmentation.”

 

It’s atypical for Mitchell, who has more than 5,000 followers on Strava, to upload a running or walking route that doesn’t map out a distinct image; he’s previously drawn out popular TV characters, celebrities, running shoes and a 170-km-long map of the world.

The hyperpigmentation meme began three years ago after a seven-year-old girl drew a hilarious side-profile picture of her mom, Sonia Tiebi, with an intensely-blushed cheek. “I’ve never looked better,” Tiebi says in the video. “It is fantastic! Is that hyperpigmentation?”

The meme began trending again in recent months. Users on TikTok and other social medias began recreating the video or drawing the picture out in the snow, with pancake batter or even in art sculptures–others are even getting the image tattooed.

“This has made my day,” one Strava user commented on Mitchell’s uploaded route through Melbourne’s Baxter Park. “What a reference and so well executed.”

Kobe Bryant tribute

In another local park, Fawkner Park, in January, Mitchell uploaded an impressively detailed GPS drawing of former NBA star Kobe Bryant, the longtime shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. (In 2020, Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash.)

“I made the jersey #9 in respect for the nine lives lost on that tragic day Jan 26th five years ago,” Mitchell titled his artwork.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Peter Mitchell (@gpsartguru)

“Chill guy” meme

Even at 50, Mitchell continues to impress his Strava followers with his sharp eye for pop culture and viral references. In December, he uploaded another 8-km route through Baxter Park that mapped out the “Chill guy” meme, a digital image of a cartoon dog that went viral in the fall.

 

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A post shared by Peter Mitchell (@gpsartguru)

Mitchell’s Strava feats require him to cover certain areas of his route repeatedly to “colour in” his GPS pictures, or navigate over high fences or through libraries and shopping malls. Videos on his Instagram show him shoving through bushes–anything it takes to complete his artwork.

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