San Francisco man maps out elaborate designs on his running routes

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- From hearts, to cats, to elaborate portraits, a San Francisco man is creating art out of his running routes.

"I remember when I was a kid, and like a lot of kids, I would sit on the hill and look at the clouds and see shapes in there."

All these years later, Lenny Maughan, sees not just shapes, but works of art, in maps of San Francisco streets.

"Sketch it out and don't make any wrong turns or you'll mess it up!"

Lenny is a long-distance runner. He's also a "Star Trek" fan. So five years ago, when Leonard Nimoy died, he felt inspired by Spock.

"I thought, what if I did something like this, and Market Streets and the other streets just make the Vulcan salute."

Since then, he's used maps to draw 53 different works of art.

The next step in his process is using fitness apps, Strava and Relive, to record where he runs, bringing his art to life.

"I'm just inspired by kitschy things, by unusual things, unexpected things."

So last weekend, Lenny created a portrait of Frida Kahlo. It took 29 miles and 6 hours to run and spans from Alamo Square to Aquatic Park.

It was actually his third attempt at a portrait of the Mexican painter.

"I did mess up on the eye," explained Lenny about his other attempts, many miles into the project. "It just ruined it, so I just chalked it up to a long run."

While running with ABC7 News reporter, Kate Larsen, they created another simple sketch. The number 7, as in ABC7.

Lenny says he's thinking about making a dog for his next work of art in August, a nod to the dog days of summer.