Five Memorable Shares From Strava's First Billion Uploads

Strava, the social fitness-sharing app, reached its one-billionth activity upload last week. We look back at some of the wildest accomplishments posted by its millions of users.

On May 21 in Berlin, Germany, a Strava user known only as “Patrick” went for a 45-minute swim. Technically, it was 44 minutes 25 seconds, and he swam 1,850 meters.

It was a milestone, not because of his time, but because Patrick’s was the one-billionth activity uploaded to Strava. In its brief eight-year history, Strava has ballooned to a massive social-networking platform that caters to the fitness-minded.

The site claims to add one million new members every 40 days, and since it launched in 2009, Strava athletes have logged nearly 13-billion miles of running, swimming, climbing, skiing, paddling, and biking. According to the San Francisco-based brand, that’s more than 54,000 trips to the moon.

In honor of the landmark upload, we’re looking back at just a few of Strava’s most memorable achievements. From its 600+ pro athletes to its millions-strong weekday warriors, here are some of our favorites.

Record-Breaking And Heart-Warming

Run across America attempts are neither new nor rare within the Strava community. But two successful trans-America runs stand out.

Pete Kostelnick ran an average of 72 miles per day for 42 days (6 hours and 30 minutes), crushing the previous cross-country run by more than four days. The 29-year-old from Hannibal, Mo., still holds the world record.

Perhaps more impressive, though, was Jason Romero’s run across the U.S. Though it took 19 days longer than Kostelnick’s run, Romero completed it with a significant handicap—he’s legally blind. Then 46, Romero ran 3,063 miles from Los Angeles to New York City with the aid of his mother, who drove support the whole way.