Human Etch A Sketch runs through Massachusetts with a purpose NBC Boston [Video]

He calls himself the “Human Etch A Sketch.”

Rik Zortman is a father from Iowa who sketches out names of children with cancer on maps. He does it by running in the city or town where the request comes from.

He recently completed his New England runs and is on track to finish all 50 states.

“To be able to go out, get a run done, and then have the story that I’m running for — thinking about that person, what they have gone through,” Zortman said. “You just have a sense of, you know, we’re similar because we’ve gone through that same story.”

Zortman isn’t the kind of guy who runs aimlessly. More than a runner, he’s an artist of sorts — one with stories to share.

The 51-year-old uses his leisure time to travel the country and sketch his runs in a peculiar way.

“I was starting to experiment more with the GPS, and I started …