Run #30: Stanford Auxiliary Library, Stanford Barn, Stanford Community Recreation Association

Yup, just three places today.  Today's run didn't fit together very nicely.  We hit three places in four miles, which is not a good ratio.

You may have heard the quote "Those in power write the history."  Well, I'm in charge of this blog, so here's the history of today's run.  I was telling great stories to keep Ira interested (high school football, "This American Life", our weekly "Shark Tank" recap, to name a few), so Ira was totally fresh.  He's very busy this week, and he therefore decided to run much faster than normal, to end quicker and to tire me out.  At about mile 3.5, he said "We're going to run four miles at a good pace."  I'm really tired, and it was totally his fault.

Our first stop was the Stanford Auxiliary Library, which is way down Serra Road, and is pretty much just a warehouse, I think, for all the books that don't fit someplace else.  Hey, is the word "Stanford" in the title really necessary?  It's an auxiliary library on the Stanford campus, so it probably doesn't belong to San Jose State.

We then had a really long leg to the Stanford Barn, which took us by the football stadium and the Mausoleum and near the mall off Welch Road.  Along the way, we wondered why this random building, which houses a Wells Fargo and some other offices, is worthy of recognition on the map.  Apparently this building has quite a history, as detailed on this webpage.  Can you image writing pages and pages about buildings that no one likely ever reads or cares about?  How tragic.

Our third and final stop was back all the way across campus to the Stanford Community Recreation Association (SCRA), which is a sort of swim/tennis club for the Stanford community.  I coached and swam at lots of swim meets here when I was younger.  They have built up a really good program, with some really good coaches.

OK, here's something someone needs to explore.  This building is listed on the map as the "Stanford Community Recreation Association."  But, I just googled it, and their official website calls it the "Stanford Campus Recreation Association."  Hey, map-maker, which is it?  I always knew it as "community" growing up.  Did they change the name?

That's all for now.  Today's distance was 4.4 miles, bringing us to 154.6 total.

Run #29: Sequoia, Serra, Skilling, SOM Loading Dock, Spilker Engineering and Applied Sciences, Spruce Hall, Stanford Athletics Shop

We had a nice Sunday afternoon run with our special guest star, our friend Dean!  He drove all the way from the East Bay to join us on today's run, since he is a faithful blog reader and wanted to experience it in person.

We began the run with Dean telling a story.  I won't repeat the story here, but it met all the criteria of great "running story":  funny, we'd never heard it before, relevant to the map, and long enough to chew up over a mile of running.  Great job, Dean!  Our first stop was Sequoia, which is a building near the Math Corner that houses the Statistics department.  I just looked up Sequoia Hall, and it has its own Wikipedia Page, with quite a history.  Apparently the building we touched today is "Sequoia Hall, Part II, the Sequel."  I should also mention that I thought the word "sequoia" is the shortest word in the English language that contains all five vowels, but it turns out that the word "Euonia" means "alertness of mind."  I'm not sure that should count: who has ever heard of that word?

Next we ran up to the Faculty Club for Serra (589 Capistrano Way).  We're not quite sure why this building gets an address in parentheses, but there it is.  This is a cute cottage that hosts the Institute for Gender Research.  There was a name on the building, and Ira made a snide comment about why it wasn't named for that person on the map.

We then ran back to the engineering side of the quad for Skilling, which is where I took my first computer science class.  Oh, the memories.  Here's something else to mention about this leg of the run: I've noticed that whenever there is a third person on the run, Ira and the other person enjoy poking fun at me.  It is all good natured: KMo is setting too fast a pace, KMo is getting us lost, KMo is taking us the long way, or KMo sometimes runs into me and injures me.  OK, that last one did sort of happen once, and Ira and Dean were enjoying talking about that on the way to Skilling when, ha ha, Dean ran into Ira.  Karma, baby!

Our next stop deserves a bit of a rant for the map-maker: the SOM Loading Dock.  First, I'm not sure it is that obvious that "SOM" stands for "School of Medicine", especially since the Medical School itself is listed under the M's under "Medicine, School of."  I think listing this place under the S's is very questionable.  Also, there really isn't even a permanent sign.

We moved along back to the new SEQ ("Science and Engineering Quad", just to show that you should explain your three letter acronyms) for the Spilker Engineering and Applied Sciences building.  We've run by this a million times, but I don't think either Ira or I actually knew what the building was called.  I bet you're wondering about who Spilker is, aren't you?  Well, he helped invent GPS, and this webpage tells you everything you want to know.

At long last, we've completed visiting all the buildings in the "Tree Quad", when we went to Spruce Hall today.  I've run out of comments about how unremarkable these buildings are, so I'll just move on.

We headed across the Serra Mall between the Oval and the Quad, weaved by Frost Auditorium, and ended up at the Stanford Athletics Shop, which is next to the track.  I once tried looking for running shorts here, but I thought everything was a bit too expensive.  They had a lot of cool jerseys and hoodies, but I guess I'm not really their target audience.  I have two Stanford sweatshirts, and today I was wearing a t-shirt from Rinc-a-Delt in 1994, my senior year.  It used to be a big concert party at Frost, and we hosted the band "They Might Be Giants", known for their song "Istanbul Not Constantinople."  I think it is funny that I wore a t-shirt that is twenty years old.  It must have been really, really well made.

We ran back to Wilbur Field, and Dean didn't realize that we always start and end at the same spot.  Yup, that's part of the rules we invented.

Distance: 4.97 miles, which I'll round down to 4.9 (up to 150.2 total)

We're in a stretch of the S's where a lot of buildings, not surprising, begin with the word "Stanford".  I think that will be all of tomorrow's run.  S is the most popular letter, for that reason.

Good job Dean!

Run #28: Recycling Center, Red Barn, Redwood, Roble Modules, Rogers: The Bridge Peer Counseling Center

We went on a quick run yesterday afternoon and finished all the R's.  It was a shorter run than we've been doing – just over four miles – and we wanted to squeeze in one run because we've got a special celebrity guest joining us on Sunday, and we didn't want his run to begin with the long boring segment that today's run did.  Aren't we thoughtful?

I guess, actually, we also completed the Q's, although there aren't actually any buildings that begin with Q.  In case you are curious, here are the letters that we "skipped", since no buildings begin with these letters: I, J, Q, U, X, Z.  If you rearrange those letters, you can make the word "quiz".

Our first leg took us to the Recycling Center, right next to the fire station and police office.  There are lots of dumpsters and trucks, and this certainly isn't the most scenic spot on our tour.  I bet they recycle a lot of paper here, though.

We were totally on the wrong side of campus for our next stop, which is the Red Barn.  It is a really cool spot, actually.  There were horses on the little riding area right outside, and we stopped and looked at the horses in the stalls, and even considered running through until we saw that a horse was being saddled up and we thought we might disturb it.  Someone has written a lot about the history of the Red Barn: you can find more information than you ever wanted to know here and here.  Just keep clicking "next" and "previous" and you'll get sucked in like I just did.

At this point, we had almost run 3 miles, and we had only visited two buildings.  Fortunately, everything else was pretty close, including Redwood Hall.  It is yet another one of those older buildings in the "All the buildings are named after trees except for Polya and Forysthe" quad.  I'm not exactly sure what happens at Redwood Hall; a quick search mentioned "Postdoc orientation" and "IT training", which seems important, I guess.  

Ira did float one theory about these buildings, though, that is worth mentioning.  As I said, all the buildings are named after trees (Cedar, Cypress, Pine, Spruce) as are the nearby portables (Acacia, Birch, Oak, Juniper, Laurel, Poplar).  The two exceptions are Polya, named after the great mathematician George Polya, and Forsythe, named after the first chair of the Stanford computer science department George Forysthe.  Why?  Well, our theory is that it is a incredible geeky inside joke.  One of Polya's great contributions to the field of mathematics was something called a "Polya tree", which has to do with graph theory and combinatorics.  And, George Forsythe no doubt had a hand in the theory of a "binary tree," which is an important concept in computer science.  We're going to believe that someone knew this and the naming scheme of these "tree" buildings reflects this inside joke.  

Our next location was the Roble Modules, which deserves a bit of a rant.  On the map, there are two different buildings in the "Roble Modules" area of the map: Bambi and Godzilla.  Loyal blog readers will of course note that Godzilla has been removed due to construction on Roble Field, so only Bambi remains.  Furthermore, there is no sign labeling the area as "Roble Modules" anywhere.  So, to sum up, we've visited a random trailer named "Bambi" three times now: once under the B's, once while we were looking for Godzilla, and once while we were looking for the Roble Modules.  Enough, map-maker!  We're done with Bambi!

(Hey Ira, someone else has a blog mentioning the wacky naming of Bambi.  And, hey look, the first link discusses Memphis BBQ.  I think you should get to know him, if you don't already.)

Our final stop was Rogers: The Bridge Peer Counseling Center.  It is a cute little cottage across the street from the Faculty Club near Tressider.  They do a lot of good work at the Bridge, and I know they have helped a lot of people.  I do have to question, map-maker, the way this building is listed on the map, under the R's and with the lengthy description following the colon.  Most people know this as "the Bridge", and I'd bet most Stanford students could locate "the Bridge" but have never heard of "Rogers."  I think it should be under the B's.  Maybe something like "Bridge Peer Counseling Center (Rogers)", since the parentheses are used liberally elsewhere.  I think this is the only use of a colon anywhere.  It is a nice building, though.

Distance: 4.2 miles (a grand total of 145.3 miles).  See you on Sunday for the S's.  There's a lot; several buildings, not surprisingly, begin with the word "Stanford".

Run #27: Police Station, Polya Hall, Poplar, Post Office, Press Building, Psychiatry, Puichon

Today was probably our first run in "fall weather."  It took some time for fall to come, but today it was probably only in the 50's when we ran.  Ira even talked about breaking out the long sleeve shirts and running pants.

Today we began with the Stanford Police Station, which is right next to the fire department on the corner of Campus Drive and Serra.  Not much to say about this building.  Um, it's a police station.  We did successfully cross through the round-a-bout, and Ira told a story of how he almost hit a cyclist.  I wonder how the police feel about the new round-a-bout.  I bet they don't like it.

Here's one weird thing I've never noticed before.  There's an area we've visited a lot that has all these older buildings behind the new engineering quad.  I've mentioned a bunch of times that, in the master Stanford construction plan, I'd bet these are probably the next bunch of buildings to get torn down, since they are old and pretty unremarkable.  Most of them are named after trees: Cedar, Cypress, Spruce, Pine, Redwood.  Well, today Ira pointed out that our destination, Polya Hall, is not named after a tree.  Actually, he said, "Is Polya a type of tree?"  No, Ira, it is named after famous mathematician George Polya.  You should check out his book called "How to Solve It" which teaches you how to solve math problems of any kind.  They should really give him a nicer looking building.

Next we ran the short distance to the nearby "tree trailers", which are a group of portables that are all named after trees.  This time we ran to Poplar, which is as unremarkable as the rest.  The only thing of note here is that we tried to go around one trailer before realizing we were boxed in and needed to backtrack.  We've been here at least five times, so you'd think we would have figured it out by now.

Then, we ran back to White Plaza for the Stanford Post Office.  Fun fact: when I was a student at Stanford my randomly assigned P.O. box number was 11011.   I majored in computer science, and 11011 is 27 in binary, and 27 is my favorite number!  How about that?  (OK, next stop.)

The whole run Ira was telling me that our next stop, the Press Building, was torn down due to construction.  Well, guess what?  There was no sign that said "Press Building", although we did find signs that said "Communications and Publications" with the name of various Stanford papers, so we were convinced we found the right place.  And, yes, we touched the door like always.  Thanks for asking.

We then had a long run through the Quad and the Oval and past the Masoleum to the Psychiatry building.  It was kind of a cool run down these paths by the Masoleum. (I feel compelled to say that, alphabetically, a building named Price should have come right before this stop, but we inexplicably had to go there on our previous run.)  Anyways, this looks like a nice new building, and some people gave us a curious look as we touched the door and then ran away.

 
We had some good conversation on this run, touching on dream dinner guests for Ira's dorm, the NPR Sunday puzzle, "The Daily Show", and a few other topics that aren't blog-worthy.  One conversation topic involved our friend Truth, his genius professor father, and an obscure math topic called a "Latin orthogonal square."  Ira made me promise to look it up and mention it in this blog, since I didn't actually know what it was.  OK, here goes:  imagine a Sudoku-like grid, where each row and column contains every possible digit.  A Sudoku is 9x9, but you could imagine a smaller one that is 3x3 or 4x4, for example.  That's a "Latin square"; there are lots of ways to fill in such a grid, depending on the size.  Now, imagine taking two different Latin squares and laying them on top of each other.  You'd end up with pairs of numbers "on top of each other", right?  If your two grids make every possible pair of numbers, then they are called "orthogonal."  Ta da!  You've got "Latin orthogonal squares!"

Our last stop was Puichon, one of those creepy run-down buildings over by Searsville Road.  We really need to find out what is going on here.  We had one crazy discovery: at the back of Puichon, which looks almost abandoned, there is a working soda vending machine.  This must be the most obscure, least utilized soda machine on campus, if not the world.

Distance: 6.4 miles (Although, I feel compelled to say that I always round down to the nearest tenth, and today's run, according to Ira's watch, was 6.498 miles.  How long is 0.002 miles?  Is that one or two steps?  So, yeah, we were pretty close to 6.5 miles.)  Our total distance is now 141.1, and we're done with all the P's!

Run #26: Parking Structure 7, Paul G. Allen Building, Paul Allen Center for Integrated Systems Annex, Pepper Tree House, Peterson (550), Physics & Astrophysics, Pigott Hall (Language Corner) (260), Pine Hall, Price

I saw two former students who are now at Stanford today.  At the beginning of the run, Kelsey rode by on her bike and said "hi".  (I guess it counts that Kelsey is my former student, although she did drop my class after a week.)  Then, as I was riding back after the run, I rode by Ricky and he said "hi."  Seeing Ricky was somewhat timely, as he is the SHP codingbat.com champion, and I just graded the first codingbat.com assignment of the year.

We started off today with Parking Structure 7, which is sort of underneath the new business school. We ran a few feet into the garage, and I jumped up to touch the sign that said "8 feet, 2 inches."  I touched it easily.  I've got mad hops.

Next was the Paul G. Allen Building.  OK, map-maker, I've got several questions.  The next building listed is the Paul Allen Center for Integrated Systems Annex.  What's the deal with the middle initial for the first building and not the second?  He didn't want his middle name (which, by the way, I looked up: it's Gardner) associated with the annex.  This also brings up the long standing issue we have with the inconsistency of alphabetizing by first name or last name.  Fine, you put this building in the P's for some reason.  But, then, shouldn't "Paul G. Allen" come after "Paul Allen", huh?  Our other big issue is that we never actually found a sign that said "annex." It sure looked like one big "Paul G. Allen" building to us.  In fact, if you go to the place on the map where the map-maker has labeled "annex", the sign says "Paul G. Allen Center for Integrated Systems."  What is that?  The closest we came to finding the "annex" was one sign on an enclosed chain link fence area that said "CIS", which I'll assume means "Center for Integrated Systems."  No "annex"?  Frustrating.

But, wow, look at what this building looks like inside.  I take back all my nasty comments.  This building is awesome!

Then we had a really long run all the way across campus down Escondido to the Pepper Tree House, which is a daycare center across from Escondido School.  Ira went on a rant as we were running, thinking we were going to another "Pepper Tree House" that was further away.  There were a couple of parents picking up their kids, so we didn't want to freak anyone out by going into the gate and touching the building.  Looks like a nice, fun place for kids, and I'm also happy to say that we ran through the new roundabout twice without getting hit by a car.

We headed back to the center of campus (which seemed like an eternity) for Peterson (550).  It's one of those numbered buildings up the little hill behind the Quad.  It is on "Panama Mall".  Ira and I have been trying to use correct "map lingo" as we run around, and we've noted that this section of Panama Street is blocked off to car traffic, which makes it "Panama Mall."  There's even a street sign!  As long as we're running around, we're trying to learn some vocabulary.

Next we ran down the hill for the Physics & Astrophysics building.  Again, map-maker, the naming scheme of the buildings seems totally arbitrary.  Let's say you were a visitor looking for the astrophysics department.  You'd never think to look for this building under the P's, would you?  Actually, you might, because if you were an astrophysicist, you'd probably be pretty smart, and I bet you could figure it out.

OK, so one more big rant for today.  Our next stop was Pigott Hall (Language Corner) (260).  You thought I'd complain about the weird double parentheses, huh?  Well, no.  I'm going to complain about the fact that WE'VE ALREADY BEEN HERE!  Yes, this building is inexplicably listed twice: once under the L's as "Language Corner (Pigott Hall) (260)" and again under the P's as "Pigott Hall (Language Corner)(260)."  Ugh.  This seems like such a goof.  How did this happen?  The only positives are that, today, I got to say "let's pivot back to Pigott" and, second, Ira knows the Pigott family, so he can share this experience with them.

We were pretty tired, but we kept going to Pine Hall, which is one of those older buildings behind the engineering quad.  Ira tapped on the door and someone thought it was a knock and answered the door, but we kept running.  With one more stop to go, I tried to take a shortcut through a parking lot, but it ended up to be a dead end, due to some chain link fences.  Sorry about that, Ira.  It probably cost us an extra quarter mile, which hurt a bit.

After backtracking, we made it to Price, which is one of those really sketchy, semi-abandoned buildings off Searsville Road.  They aren't labeled well, so we had to run all the way around it before we saw a sign that said "Price", and there is just a bunch of old broken furniture behind it.  Seriously, if you're looking to do something illegal, this is where you should go.  It feels like you've left civilization.

One last rant for today: Price is totally out of alphabetical order.  Completely.  The next few buildings are Police, Polya, Poplar, Post Office, Press.  So, yeah, this is totally, totally wrong.  I feel so negative today, but seriously, map-maker, how did this happen?

Distance: 6.6 miles (we're up to 134.7 total)

Run #25: Palo Alto Train Station & Transit Center, Parking & Transportation Services, Parking Structure 1, Parking Structure 2, Parking Structure 4, Parking Structure 5, Parking Structure 6

There won't be a lot of pretty pictures in this blog entry, since five of the seven places we visited began with the words "Parking Structure."  We knew this day was coming for a while, and I'd say we were both dreading it, but also looking forward to how weird it would be.  "What did you do today?  Well, I ran to all the parking structures on the Stanford campus."

First, though, was the Palo Alto Train Station & Transit Center.  It seems like a dirty trick that this is even on the map at all, as it only fits in a little inset in the upper left corner.  I'm pretty sure this is the furthest place on the map, and, as we were running, we pondered what other places could be in a map inset.  What if, for some reason, they listed SLAC in an inset?  Or San Francisco?  Or the overseas Stanford campus in Florence?

We ran back up Palm Drive to Parking & Transportation Services, which Ira knew because it is where he gets his parking permits, I guess.  It is sort of behind Maples Pavilion, and we couldn't touch the door because a gate was closed.  We certainly saw the sign, though.

We then ran to Parking Structure 1, which is sort of between the hospital and the Rodin Sculpture Garden.  We'd run through it several times.  Our self-imposed rules for this silly adventure have been that we have to see a sign identifying the building and then touch a door, if at all possible.  Sometimes, this isn't possible.  There may not be a sign, but then we run all the way around the building looking for one.  And, sometimes we can't get to the door, due to construction, a gate, or, once, a guard dog.  I was a bit worried about how these rules would play out for the parking structures.  Would there be a sign that said "Parking Structure 1"?  Yes, there always was such a sign. So, readers, you can sleep easy.  We always touched a sign and a part of the structure itself.

Next, was, duh, Parking Structure 2, which is on Panama Street sort of at the back of the new Roble Gym.  Nothing really of note here, so I'll share the anecdote that I apparently have a hole in my pocket, so my iPhone fell out twice during the run.  There was no damage though, and I don't even have a case.  I've never had a case in the several years I've had an iPhone, and I didn't even need one today.  I probably should fix the hole in my pocket, though.

If you thought we'd go to Parking Structure 3 next, well, you'd be wrong, since there is no Parking Structure 3!  Ha ha!  Gotcha!  A quick internet search says that it used to be by the hospital, and is now totally replaced by all the construction.  So, guess what was next?  Correct: Parking Structure 4.  It is the totally underground parking structure right as you drive up to the front of the hospital.  Aesthetically, this is the clear winner of the "best parking structure" category.  Very well though out, and no doubt very expensive, with some very nice greenery on top.  Kudos to whoever planned this!

On to Parking Structure 5, which is across from the intramural fields.  It is a big, multi-story structure, and we had a brief conversation about how it isn't really that close to anything, and how it fits in with  the commendable effort Stanford has made to move all the parking lots to the outskirts of the campus.  Oh, and for some reason, this sign was in Roman numerals, and said "Parking Structure V."

Our final stop was Parking Structure 6, which is kind of cheating, since it is underneath Wilbur Field, which is where we start and end each run.  Ira sort of forgot that we had a final destination, and he initially forgot to touch the building – there's a few buildings with elevators that take you to the underground garage.

I should also mention that, for some reason, Ira had difficulty stepping off curbs on this run.  Three or four times he stepped off a curb oddly and I was worried he might hurt his ankle.  Along with me dropping my phone, we apparently had some issues today.

Distance: 6.5 miles (128.1 miles total)

Run #24: Observatory, Old Chemistry Building, Old Union, Organic Chemistry, Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) Clinic, Owen

Yesterday was a weird and wonderful run.  We started much later than usual, at 6:15.  That meant that, by the end, we were running in the dark, which we'd never done before in this journey.  It was kind of nice, I must say.  Although the battery on my bike light was dead, so the bike ride back home was a bit scary.

Also, last night was "Full Moon on the Quad", perhaps Stanford's weirdest and sketchiest traditions.  Just a few short blog entries ago we ran on the freshman move-in day, and I welcomed my former students.  Now, just a few weeks later, they're making out with people in public.

Our first stop was up the golf course hill to the Observatory, which is a building that gives you a great view.  It was just about sunset, and we climbed up the several flights of stairs to get to the top.  The sunset view was beautiful, and Ira suggested we pause and take a photo to post on the blog. I refused; if you want to see it yourself, you'll have to run up the hill like we did.   Here's a picture of the funky observatory, though.  I think it kind of looks like a big tree house.

Next was the Old Chemistry Building, which has been surrounded by chain link fence for several years now.  It probably is one of the oldest buildings on campus, along with the Quad, and it looks sort of like a cool castle.  Or, as Ira called it, an old high school from last century.  We didn't actually touch it, of course, but we saw the sign that said "Department of Chemistry."  Except that a big piece of plywood was covering up part of it, so it kind of looked like "mistry", which made it look like the "Ministry of Magic" and reminded me of Hogwarts.

We then ran to Old Union, where we had to run through the Quad, and noticed the setup for "Full Moon on the Quad."  There were lights, a sound system, a check in station, and barricades.  Very different than when we were students.  Oh, and it was getting dark by now, and Ira stepped off a curb at the Quad and hurt himself a bit.    Old Union is right across from the Bookstore, and it's an administration building and used to a great frisbee golf hole.

Next was the Organic Chemistry building.  We actually had to bring out the map on the iPhone here, as we weren't quite sure exactly what building it was.  It was almost totally dark by now, and this building is set in a bit behind the Keck Science building.  It is not the most impressive looking building, actually, and we had to run all the way around it to find the sign that says "Organic Chemistry."  The building looks almost like a trailer.

We had a weird stop next: the map says "Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) Clinic" under the list of buildings, but it isn't actually labelled on the map.  It says the building is at "C-5", but when you go to "C-5" on the map, there isn't such a labelled building at all.  I remembered that is is somewhere off Welch Road, but I wasn't sure exactly where.  We ran through the hospital and ran down Welch Road (totally dark by now) and happened to find the building.  We were deep in conversation talking about human resources and trying to stay far enough apart so we wouldn't run into each other, and I was happy to see a sign that says "Otolaryngology."  Ira didn't even see it, either because it was dark or because the conversation was so interesting.

We had one last place to go, which was on our way home.  It's called Owen House, and it is right by Hillel, Haas Center, and those buildings close to home.  We were tired by then (and did I mention it was dark?) and I got mixed up and thought it was on the other side of the street.  Weirdly, Ira knew where this building was, because it has to do with his housing.  He didn't know it was called Owen House, though.

One other funny anecdote:  Sometimes when we're running, we run past other runners and ask each other "Do you think they are faster or slower than we are?"  On this run, the entire Stanford cross country team came flying by us, no shirts and long legs.  Without me saying anything, Ira said "They're faster."

Distance: 6.2 miles (121.6 total)

Run #23: Mitchell Earth Sciences, Montag Hall, Moore Materials Research, Mudd Chemistry, Music Rehearsal Facility, Nora Suppes Hall, Oak

A rare Monday run!  We're getting nervous that the weather will turn cold and wet before we have a chance to finish.  Or, at least, that's what Ira keeps saying as an excuse to get me tired.

First stop today was the Mitchell Earth Sciences building.  Ira said "I'm a fan."  "Why?" I asked.  "Because of the rock library."  Let's move on.

Next was Montag Hall.  You might think this has something to do with Fahrenheit 451, but, no, it is the home to the admissions department.  It is right by the Ford Center, and Ira claims this used to house the entire athletic department administration.  But, now, it's admissions.  Lots of dreams are either made or crushed here.  I wonder if they ever have crazy parents showing up knocking on the door.  I bet they have good stories here.

We headed back toward the Quad, and Ira really didn't know where we were going.  I did!  It was the Moore Materials Research building, named after Intel founder Gordon Moore and his wife Betty.  When we touched the door, a guy was walking down the hall in a white lab coat.  I bet they do all sorts of cool stuff in here, and I bet they have crazy equipment.  This was our first lab coat sighting outside of the Med School, I think.

It was a quick trip to the Mudd Chemistry building.  We'd run by it yesterday and made a mental note, so we knew exactly where it was.  You've probably heard the expression "Your name is mud," but did you know that it may come from the fact that a Dr. Samuel Mudd treated John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln.  OK, a quick Google search says that may be an urban legend, but did you know that John Wilkes Booth evaded capture for two weeks and made it to another state?   Well, in any event, the Mudd Chemistry building was pretty busy today.

We had a good run to the other side of campus for the Music Rehearsal Facility, which is basically the Band Shak for the Leland Stanford Junior (pause) University Marching Band.  The band has been in at least two different places since I was a student, and they sort of trashed or destroyed both of them.  Now, they have a back room of the Avery Aquatics Center.  Here's what I think of the LSJUMB: they are probably only funny about 10% of the time, but, when they are, they are really funny.  I'm pro.  And I'm really glad that, at football games, they now publish the transcript of what they are saying on the jumbotron.  That makes it much easier to figure out what is going on.

Done with the M's, we headed to Nora Suppes Hall, all the way across campus near the Carnegie Institution.  (Or is it Carnegie Foundation?  I get mixed up.)  The route we took, by the way, was pretty excellent.  We have certainly gotten much, much better at taking the shortest route from one place to another.  Anyways,  something fun happened at Nora Suppes.  We touched the door a bit too loudly, and a man walked outside and asked if he could help us.  I said "no, we're just running," since it wasn't the right time to tell him about the blog.  I did ask him about the cool sign on the door that said "Center for Everything."  He explained that this was the department of interdisciplinary studies, so they do everything.  Good answer, although the Li Ka Shing Center of Learning and Knowledge might be in competition for "best building title."  Here's a picture of the sign.

Our last stop was right across the street at Oak, one of the tree trailers.  Not much to say about these, but I will tell you we ran pretty darn fast back to Wilbur Field.  Sub 8:00 pace, to make up for our pathetic running pace yesterday in the heat.

Distance: 5.1 miles (115.4 overall)

Run #22: Margaret Jacks (460), Mariposa, Math Corner (380), Mausoleum, McClatchy (120), McCullough, Mechanical Engineering Research Lab (MERL), Medical School Office Building, School of Medicine: Alway, Edwards, Grant & Lane, Memorial Church, Memorial Hall & Auditorium, Meyer Library

I'm writing this blog on Monday morning, as my class is taking a test, but we actually ran Monday afternoon at 3:00, at pretty much the hottest point in the day.  The theme of the run was "wow, I'm hot."  Ira actually brought two Gatorades; he carried his on the run, while I left mine in the shade at the end.  The choice to run in ninety degree weather reminds me of one of those "screw in a light bulb" jokes: How many Stanford graduates does it take to pick the most inappropriate time of day to go for a run?

Our first stop was Margaret Jacks Hall, which is building 460, right in the front of the Quad.  It houses a bunch of departments, including Linguistics and Symbolic Systems.  I just spent quite some time trying to learn who the heck Margaret Jacks actually was.  There isn't a lot of information out there, and it wasn't until page two or three of the Google results that I stumbled upon this wonderful and informative article.  Fun fact: Margaret Jacks' dad lived in Monterey, and was the first to market and popularize Monterey Jack cheese.  This fact alone makes the entire running adventure worth it.

Next we ran to Mariposa.  It sounds like it should be one of the tree portables, but, no, it is a cute little house near Bechtel by Tresidder. We weren't sure what was there, so I looked it up.  It houses the "Department of Diversity and Access" and the Ombudsman.  Stanford calls this "the Office of the Ombud," probably in a worthwhile attempt to be gender neutral.  Hey kids!  You know when you're little and someone asks you what you want to be when you grow up?  Wouldn't "ombudsman" be an awesome answer?

Our third stop was the Math Corner, building 380 at the corner of the Quad.  Per usual, there is no sign that actually says "Math Corner", but we looked for it fruitlessly.  My last final as an undergraduate was in the math department, but I enjoyed the freedom of Stanford's honor code and took the exam sitting on the grass in the Oval on a glorious spring day.

We then ran to the Mausoleum, where Leland Stanford and his family are buried.  It felt a bit creepy to actually touch the door, but we did.  There's actually a "knocker", which was even creepier, since, um, no one is going to answer.  We discussed that this is probably one of the most underrated spots on campus, since it is pretty awesome looking.  Ira poured some of his Gatorade in honor of Sir Mix-a-Lot, and only know am I realizing that I didn't ask him to elaborate more on that story.  I hope he does so in the comments.

Back to the Quad for McClatchy, which is building 120, right across the inner courtyard from Margaret Jacks.  We were really, really hot by now, and we ran through a gaggle of tourists taking pictures.  This happens to us all the time when we run through the Oval/Quad area.  I wonder how many pictures I've been in over the years?  Several hundred, probably.

Then, it was over to the older Engineering buildings for McCullough.  I think I once took a class there.  If I recall, it was class where I had to hook up chips and wires in a "breadboard" to make a simple computer.  It was really hard, and I remember bringing my project across campus thinking that it would be really, really bad if I got hit by a biker and dropped it and all the wires fell out.  (By the way, the buildings on this run are all pretty darn close together.  Nice!)

We then ran a short distance to the Mechanical Engineering Research Labs (MERL).  It's just up the hill a bit.  How excited do you think the mechanical engineers were when they realized that their new building's acronym spelled out a name?  I'm envisioning a lot of geeky high-fives.

Finally, we had a long trek over to the medical school for the Medical School Office Building.  We ran down Welch Road and we were now really, really, really hot.  Ira drank the last of his Gatorade by MERL.  Normally we talk a lot during our runs, but we weren't saying much now, either because we were way overheated or because by now we've totally run out of stories.  This building was pretty much a nondescript office building, as the name suggests.

Next was the School of Medicine, which is broken into four buildings: Alway, Edwards, Grant, and Lane.  They are all sort of connected and we found Alway right away, but then the construction was confusing. I suggested that the construction blocked us and we should run around the building, but Ira  wanted to go check out if there was a sign for Edwards.  He was right, thank goodness, saving us valuable time and distance.  We eventually found Grant and Lane on the other side.  This building still confuses us a lot.

Even hotter, we ran to Memorial Church.  Ira made us run straight up the center of the Quad, since that is clearly the most appropriate and reverent and scenic way to approach the most picturesque building on the entire campus.  This did, unfortunately, require us to run a long stretch in direct sunlight with no shade, and, wow, we were hot.  

Then things started getting weird.  Our next spot was listed on the map as Memorial Hall & Auditorium.  Every Stanford student knows where "Mem Aud" is, but we weren't sure about the building named "Memorial Hall."  Was it the same thing, or is it a side room off the main auditorium?  We ran around the side looking for a sign, and then, after a few minutes and a peek at the map, Ira saved us by noticing that there was a plaque right at the front, which was easy to miss in the bright sun.  I even took a photo.  So, yes, basically Memorial Hall is the building that houses Memorial Auditorium.  Whatever.

Our goal today was to get to Meyer Library, and we made it.  However, Meyer is now abandoned, and is going to be knocked down soon.  The final days have begun, as there is now a serious chain link fence completely surrounding the building.  According to Ira, this went up on Thursday or Friday, so we were not actually able to touch the building.  We did find one place where we could have probably slid under a gap in the fence, and, if it wasn't the middle of the day, we would have done so.  I did take one last picture for posterity.  Notice the fence encircling the entire building.  Ira and I wept a bit, thinking of the last time we played the famous frisbee golf hole up that outdoor ramp.  Sigh.

Distance: 6.0 miles, although we had to run alongside Wilbur Field for about fifty yards to make it to 6.0.  (Total distance is now 110.3.)

Run #21: Law School, Li Ka Shing Center, Littlefield Center, Lorry Lokey Labs, Lorry Lokey Stem Cell Research Building, Lucas Center (MSLS), Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Main Quad, Maples Pavilion

Well, today we broke 100 miles for our entire journey.  That's something, huh?

Jake and Mo joined us today.  It was a hot day, so I hope Mo got lots of water at home.

Last run we saved the Law School for the beginning of this run, since it was so close.  Now is a good time to link to this Stanford Daily article about the top five spaces on campus.  Heck, we hit three of them today (#1, #3, #5).  We made a special detour to the terrace at the Law School, and a woman frowned at us for bringing a dog up there.  It sort of looks like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Next was the Li Ka Shing Center, which is over at the Med School.  I will admit that I had no idea who Li Ka Shing is, but a wikipedia search tells me he is the richest man in Asia.  Wow, that's something.  Asia is pretty big.  I love that this building's official title is the "Center for Learning and Knowledge."  You'd think that, at a university like Stanford, there would be learning and knowledge going on in almost every building.

We headed across campus to the Littlefield Center, which is at the old business school.  We knew exactly where this was, since we got confused a run or two ago looking for the Knight Building right next door.  After we touched the door and headed to the next place, we saw a really big rabbit just hanging out by the Keck Science building, but, incredibly, Mo didn't see it.

Right after the rabbit incident we touched the door to the Lorry Lokey Labs.  There was a guy who was just about to open the door, and he looked confused as the three of us ran up, touched the door, and kept going.  We get that a lot.  We found a little alley with some neat bamboo that took us to our next spot across Campus Drive.  I didn't know that Mr. Lorry Lokey owns Business Wire and was the editor of the Stanford Daily as a student.  Seems like a nice buy, according to wikipedia.

Mr. Lokey gave enough money for two buildings, and the second is the Lorry Lokey Stem Cell Research Building by the Med School.  Ira and I got in a silly disagreement here.  Earlier in the run, when we were at the Li Ka Shing budiling, he pointed to two buildings and said we'd be back to these.  I said he was wrong.  Well, he was right about one of them; he did correctly identify this Lorry Lokey Building, but he didn't realize the previous one was across the street.  So, partial credit for Ira. I would think Mr. Lokey could have cleared up this confusion by choosing to name of of the buildings after someone else.  Maybe the Cosmo Kramer Stem Cell Research Building?  

We then headed around the corner to the Lucas Center.  OK, map-maker, let's talk.  On the map, it is listed as "Lucas Center (MSLS)."  Some googling tells me that stands for "medical school lab surge", it doesn't say that anywhere.  Instead, the sign on the building says "Richard M. Lucas Center for Imaging."  Very inconsistent with the first name and last thing, since Mr. Lokey's buildings are listed under his first name.  And no mention of "Imaging" on the map?  

Staying on the Med School side, we ran to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.  I find it tough to say any snarky comments here, as they do such incredible work here.  Let's just say "thanks" for all the sick kids who have been healed here.  I bet everyone reading the blog knows at least one.  We ran right up to the front door, by a young girl in a wheelchair and a gas mask.

Done with the L's, we proceeded to the M's.  The first one was odd: the Main Quad.  Um, map-maker, we've been here before, remember?  All the buildings are listed under "B", and we touched them all.  Why are some places listed twice?  We weren't sure exactly where the map-maker wanted us to go, and we actually couldn't find a sign that said "Main Quad."  There are lots of plaques and signs, including one for Stanford's contribution to the Spanish-American War, but none say "Main Quad."  So, we touched the rosetta in the very center and called it good enough.

At this point, Jake and Mo were tired, so they left us, and Ira and ran to Maples Pavilion.  (Note: I made a sharp right and almost ran into Ira again. Oops.)  We ran through the Business School (#5 in the Daily article) and touched the door.  Remember when Stanford men's basketball was really good? That was a really fun few years.  Maples was always crazy for those Arizona games.  Good times.

Distance: 5.5 miles (104.3 total!)