  A direct observation of the spiral structure of the Galaxy is hindered by our
position in the middle of the Galactic plane. We propose a method based on the
analysis of the birthplaces of high Galactic latitude runaway stars to map the
spiral arms and determine their dynamics. As a proof of concept, the method is
applied to a local sample of early-type stars and a sample of runaways stars to
obtain estimates of the pattern speed and the spiral arm's phase angle. We also
estimate the performance of this method once the data gathered by Gaia, in
particular for runaway stars observed on the other side of the Galaxy, is
available.
