Hey @Sock-monkey74,
Thanks for your post and sorry for the confusion. When sharing an activity, the athlete receives the GPS only data. The original activity file, from the athlete who initially recorded the activity, may have a distance stream or additional distance data aside from the GPS data points recorded. We do not send this information when sharing an activity, only the GPS data points. When we calculate the distance based on GPS data, we end up with the distance you see on Strava. Please, see our article on How distance is calculated for your activity between GPS device approach and GPS Strava post-upload approach.
There are a number of factors that can contribute to variations in GPS data for distance and speed. Some common factors can include:
- Accuracy of the GPS communication during the activity
- Frequency of recording GPS data points
- Sections where GPS did not record (such as the GPS signal temporarily dropping)
- GPS interference (poor weather conditions, cloud cover, tall buildings)
More information on how this feature works can be found here.