How to Turn Your Strava Runs Into a Poster

Updated August 2026 · 5 min read

You've logged the miles — a marathon, a year of training, or every street of your city. Here are the three realistic ways to get those runs off your phone and onto a wall, with the honest trade-offs of each.

Single-run poster: a 102 km ultra route drawn in red on a cream map, with distance, time, pace, elevation and heart-rate stats — The two kinds of poster: one run with its stats (left) — or every run you've logged in a city, layered into one heat map (right, 697 runs).

Composite heat-map poster: 697 London runs layered in white on black, with combined distance and time stats — The two kinds of poster: one run with its stats (left) — or every run you've logged in a city, layered into one heat map (right, 697 runs).

Option 1: A connected editor (fastest)

The least-friction path is a tool that connects to Strava directly, so you never touch a GPX file. RunInk is built for exactly this:

Connect Strava. One click — your runs, rides and hikes load straight into the editor.
Pick a run — or all of them. A single race makes a classic route poster. Composite mode layers every run in a city into one heat-map artwork (separate guide here).
Style it. Choose a theme, poster size, title and stats. The preview is exactly what prints — what you see is what you get.
Export free, or order a print. The high-resolution file is free (delivered by email). Matte prints start at $25 with shipping included; framed options are available.

The same run rendered in the Japanese Ink theme: red route on cream paper — The same run, three of the themes — Japanese Ink, Blueprint, Neon. Switching is one click, so try them all before you print.

The same run rendered in the Blueprint theme: white route on architectural blue — The same run, three of the themes — Japanese Ink, Blueprint, Neon. Switching is one click, so try them all before you print.

Design yours free

Print sizes and prices

Size	Poster	Framed
30 × 40 cm	$25	—
40 × 60 cm	$35	$55
50 × 70 cm	$45	$75

All prints are matte, shipped worldwide, shipping included in the price. Designing and the HD export are free — you only pay if you want the physical print.

Option 2: DIY from a Strava export

If you want full creative control and don't mind the work:

Export your activities from Strava (Settings → My Account → Download or Delete Your Account → Download Request gets you everything as GPX; single activities export from the activity page).
Plot the routes with a tool like QGIS, or a script (Python + matplotlib/folium is the usual route).
Design the poster at print resolution — 300 DPI at your target size — in Figma, Canva or Affinity.
Send the PDF/PNG to a local print shop.

Budget an evening for the first attempt. The common failure mode is resolution: a screenshot of a map will look crisp on screen and muddy at 50 × 70 cm.

Option 3: Single-race print services

If you want one specific race commemorated and prefer to hand the design off entirely, several services specialise in single-route artwork from a GPX upload — TrackToPrint, RoutePrinter and Cadence Prints are established options, and VeloViewer goes deep on data visualisations (including 3D). They're a good fit for a "frame my marathon" gift; they're not built for the every-run-you've-done composite.

Which should you pick?

"I want my poster tonight, free, no file wrangling" → connected editor (RunInk).
"I want every run I've ever done as one artwork" → composite/heat-map mode — see the city heatmap guide.
"I enjoy the craft and want total control" → DIY.
"One race, designed for me, price is secondary" → a single-race print service.

FAQ

Do I need to export GPX files?

Not with a connected editor — Strava authorisation loads your activities directly. GPX exports are only needed for the DIY route or upload-based services.

Is the free export print-quality?

RunInk's free export is a high-resolution file delivered by email — good enough to print yourself. The paid prints are rendered at 300 DPI and professionally printed on matte stock.

Does it work for rides and hikes too?

Yes — anything with a GPS track in Strava: runs, rides, hikes, walks.