A physicist rigged his hamster's wheel to log 70 km a week on Strava

Your hamster might be logging better weekly mileage than you.

Thijs de Buck, an MRI physicist in Utrecht, wired his 10-month-old hamster Mollie's wheel with a magnet, a Hall effect sensor, and an ESP32 micro-computer. A custom script converts the rotation data into standard .FIT activity files and uploads them to Strava through its API. To get auto-uploads working, de Buck even bought the pet a Strava Premium subscription.

Why it matters: Most hardware hacks stop at total distance, but this build gives a tiny rodent full endurance-athlete treatment. By converting simple rotation ticks into activity files, Mollie gets pace splits, live speed on a built-in OLED screen, and automated run titles like "The Fast and the Furriest."

The training stats are ridiculous: Mollie averages nearly 10 kilometers a night, reaches speeds up to 5 km/h, and completed Strava’s monthly 400-minute endurance challenge on Day 2.

Up next is Mollie's 20th run, when Strava unlocks automatic race predictions for the 5K and marathon.