Creators in Running: Scott Diekema

From marathon PRs to crafting innovative fitness tech, this UI designer and runner is redefining how we experience the sport. With a blend of analog nostalgia and digital creativity, discover how Scott Diekema is transforming running culture - one mindful mile at a time.

Words: Lukas Motschmann
Photos: Scott Diekema, Jay-Dee Samonte, Asa Fletcher

In our “Creators in Running” series, we highlight the stories and creativity of talented people who are capturing the essence of running and helping to evolve the sport. The series aims to show the connection between art and the running community and inspire new content creators.

más: How do you differ from other creators in running?

Scott: These days I work mostly as a UI designer and developer, so I'm focused on the web as a storytelling medium. Photography was my first creative outlet, starting when I was 15, and photo/video is still part of my work, but secondary to visual design and code.

When it comes to running, I'm really interested in the digital media environment around the sport. Running is obviously a very physical, very offline activity, and yet so much of today's running culture, at least in cities like New York, is digitally mediated. Most of us rely on GPS watches to keep pace and share that data with the world on Strava. As a creative developer and runner, I've been thinking a lot about how these tools shape my own experience of running, and what alternative methods might look like.

For example, last winter there was a training stretch where I ditched my GPS watch on easy runs and instead ran with an old Casio stopwatch and wrist camera from 2000. It forced me to get more familiar with effort-based training and also added this fun creative aspect of being able to quickly snap pictures along my route. What a nightmare though to get the photos off the watch … I wish I could build a modern version that makes the process easier. Maybe someday.

You are working for Router - can you explain what it is and what you do?

Router is a creative technology studio that I share with two partners, Sam Lowe and Nicholas Byrne. It grew out of an interactive art project in 2020 during the early days of the pandemic.

I was just coming out of college, where I studied philosophy, and was also a passionate photographer. The framing and inspiration for Reality Recycling Center (RRC) was in many ways a bridge between photography and philosophy.

What started as passion projects among friends grew into client work with musicians and brands, mostly making custom websites and music videos, but also some broader art direction and consulting. Really whatever people would pay us for. Now we have a studio space in Ridgewood, New York that's a playground of esoteric analog and early digital gear, from old broadcast equipment to a 1984 Apple IIc computer.Router's work today is focused on bespoke software and motion graphics. Most of our partners are in the music industry, but we've also done some brand work in running over the years. We did 3D animation work for the LOEWE x On Running collaboration in Spring 2022, then a couple projects with Bandit here in New York City. Most recently video and lighting design for their Summer 2024 campaign.

Now you are working on something very special, potentially a Strava alternative – what exactly is the app Source?

Source is an artful fitness tracker based on feel, not pace. We're currently building our MVP iOS app and hoping to launch on the App Store early next year.

The spark for Source came from unexpected interactions between my training and creative practice. I run for about an hour a day, on average, and over time I've found that part of my daily routine to be a potent headspace for creative thinking. To the point that I was fully designing web interfaces in my head on a run then getting home and frantically sketching it all out.

I started to experience this link between creativity and movement. There's a good bit of research on mind-wandering and flow as it relates to exercise and creative thinking, which I found fascinating. I'm no scientist, but I started to wonder what it could look like to design a fitness app around this mental side of movement, particularly its potential for inspiration and present awareness. 

I went back to my partners at Router and we started tinkering with this as a side project and further developing the idea together. Earlier this year we released a closed beta of the concept to around 50 athletes. That v1 web app visualized flow based on a users Strava data. We collected great feedback and this time around are focused on expanding the feature set in the hopes of making Source more of a daily tool for mindful running, totally disentangled from Strava.

Our backdrop here is the post-pandemic running boom that we're all living through. I grew up running, took a break in college, then fell in love with it again during the pandemic for its mental health benefits, which I think is a pretty common take. At the same time, there are these cool fashion brands and run clubs building community and turning running into a new vehicle for self-expression.

All this change is happening, and I'm not sure that fitness apps have caught up yet. They still look and function mostly as they have for the past decade, with a pretty singular focus on GPS watch data. There is obviously a place for that, but the numbers from a watch are such a small aspect of why we run. I think running tech could be a whole lot weirder and more fun.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

Very difficult question - so many artists, eras, and Internet rabbit holes. I've always held the view that creativity is mostly connecting existing dots in new and interesting ways, so I try my best to consume a wide range of media. Are.na and the Internet Archive are my favorite platforms for creative and visual research. When it comes to software and web design, I'm really inspired by early-to-mid 2000s interfaces, back when Flash websites were in their prime, for example: the Nike Air flash website in 2006. These are my earliest memories of the Internet when websites felt alive and interactive in a way that's largely missing from today's dominant UX/UI paradigms. I'm fortunate with Router to design and build digital products for clients in arts and culture who are looking for a more experimental approach.

There is a number of music photographers and videographers I have always been inspired by - Driely Carter, Cian Moore, Phoenix Guerrero. I first picked up a VHS camera in early 2018 after finding White Trash Tyler, an artist who had been documenting life on the road with Travis Scott using this camera. I was a college junior at the time and spent that summer interning in LA for a film studio while trying to launch a freelance career in the music industry. That August I had the opportunity to shoot Travis Scott's Astroworld release party for Red Bull Music with my future Router partner Nicholas, which was such an exciting early career that inspired me to keep going. We also shot a young Billie Eilish this summer, which is still one of my favorite pieces of work.

What about the world of running?

It's not until more recently that I have immersed myself in the world of running creatives - so many phenomenal visual artists. I'm particularly inspired by the way Joe Greer combines art and running in his professional life, both working and training at a very high level. I also love what is happening in the Satisfy universe – fusing different music scenes with running and being unafraid to get weird with it. I'm channeling a similar energy into Source.

What are your goals in running and in your creative work?

From a performance standpoint, right now I am focused on honing the marathon distance. I'm lucky to run for Brooklyn Track Clubs Performance Team, which is such a high caliber group of runners to look up to and train with. I have been working with my coach Johannes Motschmann since May 2023, and he has totally transformed my training and given me the confidence to go after big goals. I ran a big PR of 2:30:33 in Berlin, which was so close to my goal of breaking into the 2:20s. So that's what I've got my eyes on next.

Johannes has helped me understand the importance of effort-based training and racing rather than being glued to instantaneous pace on my watch. This has also partly inspired my current thinking around Source. I want to enjoy the daily practice of running while also competing at a high level, and as I get faster I'm realizing that I need to get better at listening to my body before the watch. So that is a big training goal right now as well.

Lastly, I hope to make running a bigger part of my creative work in the year ahead, through Source but also just doing more personal photo/video experimentation in the sport. New York City Marathon weekend last month was the first time I've brought out the VHS camera to shoot running, which was so much fun. Usually I'm anxious on the starting line, so being a spectator with a camera was a great reversal.

Scott, thank you for your time!

If you are interested to connect and find out more about Scott, get in touch with him on Instagram @scottdiekema or via email scott@scottdiekema.net and you can sign up for early access to Source 2.0 at sourcecard.io!