Miles for the Missing

Runners already cover Belgium. With over 1.3 million active Strava users logging millions of miles across the country every year, the nation's running community represented an untapped search network, one that moves through the exact streets, parks and neighborhoods where extra eyes are needed most. Therefore runners are natural searchers. They consciously or unconsciously check their environment while covering whole areas. They were already doing the work; we just needed to remind them that their eyes still matter and give a gentle but powerful nudge to use their powers for our cause during their pastime. 

We tapped into the existing community of runners by creating ‘Miles for the Missing’: a Strava running club that transforms active runners into a permanent, mobile search network. By joining the club, runners receive urgent missing children alerts directly on their smartphones, turning every run into a potential search opportunity. But runners are creatures of habit, often covering the same familiar routes. That's why an AI-powered route generator was built to invert live Strava heatmap data, identifying the "cold spots" where runners rarely go, and guiding members along entirely new paths past high-probability locations like bus stops, train stations and gas stations, the places where a vital clue is most likely to be found. The club was launched on International Missing Children's Day at the 20km of Brussels, the initiative immediately captured national attention. Celebrity runners amplified the cause. A nationwide DOOH and social campaign broadened its reach beyond the running community.