this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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usually it's people tracking their activity for fitness reasons. most fitbits these days track heart rate as well as steps, so you can get a good idea of how active you are during the day (including during workouts). it just so happens they also track gps location.
This sounds more like a run. I haven't seen Strava record or report GPS data for just steps taken throughout the day. But runs, walks, bike rides, and other sports will often record GPS.
But the op is right - if the ship is moving, the athlete will get "credit" for additional distance traveled, or they'll lose distance, depending on which way they are running compared to the ship's direction of travel, possibly balancing out if one of the other reverses direction at the appropriate time.
My point being that they may not be using it for the gps component, but other features like heart rate monitoring or meal tracking, etc.