Warm up for the Boston Marathon by walking around MIT. (Warning: not only are there many stairs, the signs also don’t have Braille.)

[Click each image to enlarge.]


START at [1]. Go down the nearest stairway to the first floor and go outside. Turn right, walk down some steps and under a hallway connecting two buildings. Turn onto the driveway and walk toward MIT’s newest building. Before you reach it, turn left and go under a building. Enter this building via the door to the right. Walk past some “columns” and enter the next building on the right. Walk past some tables that look like they belong in a restaurant and exit through the doors on the left. Walk towards a large hemispherical object. Enter the building to your left through the first set of doors you pass that are below the level you’re currently at. Turn right and go up the nearest stairwell one level. Go to [2]. Head west and turn between two columns. Go through this building and go down the stairs and exit. Turn right and follow the driveway as straight as possible then STOP when you reach a public street.

START at [3]. Head east until you come to a public street. Turn left and walk along the street. When you reach the second crosswalk (which is larger than the other), enter the building immediately to your left. Walk along the hallway until you pass a large tile circle on the floor, then when you come to a larger tile circle, take an immediate right. Go outside and walk to [4]. Enter the building in front of you by the nearest entrance. Head east to the exit by the mirror. Leave the building and walk to the nearest intersection. Walk beside the colorful circles. Cross the street ahead of you and enter the first building you come to on your right. Go to the fifth floor and STOP at [5].

START at [6]. Go up one floor. Head straight to the closest building that is a multiple of 5. Turn left to enter a building two digits lower, and find [7]. Multiply the two digits of the building you’re in to get the number of the next building you should enter. Go to the building that is half the difference of the 2nd and 4th buildings you’ve passed through. Walk through this building until you can see two water fountains. Turn around and go back the way you came, re-entering the previous building, then head directly to Lobby 7. Turn left and STOP at the colorful mural.

START at [8]. Head north as straight as possible, going down one floor when you come to a stairway on your right, then soon down another stairway on your right. Continue on the same path. When you exit the building, immediately reenter the same building through the door directly in front of you. Continue on your path, and when you again find yourself outside stop when you reach a driveway. Turn left and follow the driveway. Turn right onto a path that runs between two connected buildings. Continue and walk to a brown garage door. Now walk around the corner of this building and straight to the entrance of the building in front of you. Turn around 180 degrees and walk as straight as possible to the building that is the sum of the two most recent buildings you’ve encountered. Enter this building through the entrance in its south side and go up one floor via the closest stairwell. Head west and find [9]. Continue in the same direction and into the next building. Turn left into an adjoining building and go down the stairs and exit as soon as you can. Follow the street you are facing south until you reach the second crosswalk and STOP.

START at the entrance of a location that shares the name of an actor who played Darth Vader. Enter and immediately go to the basement. Find [10]. Go back upstairs using a different stairway. Exit the location the same way you came in. Head north until you meet a wall. Head straight to a location that shares the name of a leader of an expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Enter this location and STOP at the southwest corner.

START at [11]. Divide the number of the building you’re in by 2 and go to that building, traversing its length. Go down the nearest stairway one floor. Divide by 2 again, and continue straight through that numbered building. Enter a building whose number is equal to the sum of the numbers of the two previous buildings you were in. Immediately after you exit that building, go up the nearest stairway one floor. Walk forward from the stairs and STOP at [12].

START at the bike cage near W1. Head straight to [13]. Exit the building the same way you entered and walk straight to the former site of a dorm. Continue through this site and to the crosswalk in front of you. Cross the street and go in the nearest entrance. Immediately go to the second floor. Head to [14]. Return to where you entered the second floor and take the path you previously did not take. Walk as straight as possible and STOP at the entrance to a library.


  • From [3], 200m to [9] 3 site
  • 200m of path closest to [1]
  • Return from Station 10 near [5]
  • First ~1.3 km January [14]
  • 2nd ~1.3 km February [14]
  • From flagpole, approach [7] and follow footpath until north of its east edge
  • First 0.5 km past [10]
  • Waypoint [11] to Waypoint [12], 13-14 Jan 2014
  • 75 yards on either side of point of closest approach to [8]
  • From due south of Station 9, in direction of [13][4], to Station 9 itself
  • From 1 km north of [6] to point due north of [2]