I tried* to run to the airport by Kayode D. '27

I wrote in an earlier blog that I took up running. Since coming back to MIT, I am sad to report that the habit has ceased and I no longer run everyday.

I realized recently that I lack discipline. I’ve been burnt by the burn-out of too much work to do and I steer clear at the first sign of stress or discomfort. This usually looks like me spending too much time on youtube or (if i’m feeling particularly productive) a descent in wikipedia rabbitholes [three cool rabbitholes i found: marathons  and judo, football, and board games].

My friend, Bry⁠01 HI BRY!!!. , recently told me she bought tickets to run in the Cambridge Half Marathon, but was no longer able to run it, so she wanted to sell the tickets. This seemed like a great way to build disciple! The race was a month out, which gave me just enough time to train, I thought. If I really buckled down it would be hard, but I’d be able to do it.

So did I look up training plans or strategies on how to get my distance up? Nope. I went for a 5 mile run to test out the waters:

My big plan was to go running with other runners who knew tips and how to conserve energy. My technique is bad and I tend to burn out wayyy too fast. If I start to feel tired I speed up so I can get to “that tree up there” which becomes “that intersection” and then “that building” and I keep pushing back my finish line in an attempt to build a stronger character or something. I just care about my character development too much, ya know?

Anyways, the run is simple: run through BU, run through Newbury Street (or rather, the street parallel to it b/c i would get distracted by newbury comics⁠02 I'm so upset. Last weekend was family visit weekend, and my family all cam up from Kentucky. Fun times! We went to the Newbury Comics up by Harvard, and I noticed they had a TON of the new Peach Pit Album. Like, way way more than you'd expect a comic book store to have. Which was weird. I was emailing my friend, Sam, about it because he got me into listening to the band, and I looked up to see info on this new album. I go to the website and what do I find? The band is on tour. And their first stop was a signing meet and greet. At Harvard Newbury Comics. One day before I went. I missed them by one day. They're going to Europe for the rest of the year! Grrrrrr i'm so upset. ), and then back up by chipotle to get to Simmons. ~5 miles.

Everything started out good. I left Sunday night at like 6:30 when the sun was still out but starting to set, and really enjoyed the run. So much so that I missed my turn. By a lot. I kept thinking i could get back on track if I just stayed on the path I was going, and I was having so much fun! I was going to run a HALF MARATHON!! I live in BOSTON!! This is so freaking cool!!

And by the time I finally stopped to figure out where I was I realized something. I was now equidistant from MIT… and the Airport. I should probably head back, but how FUNNY would it be if I ran to the airport? I could run there, take a funny picture like “how did I get here?” and then take the train back to MIT. So I look at it on google maps real quick [FORESHADOWING] to make sure it was possible, and keep running. I ran though the downtown part of Boston, through the footpaths and plazas. I saw a concert happening and tons of shops and restaurants. It truly was a grand old time.

Me at some historic looking building. Townhall maybe?

MOOO ...

There was a concert! So many plazas full of people!!

Brown Boats

bonus picture.

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Then I got to the docks.

And realized that there’s no bridge.

There isn’t a bridge from the mainland to the island that Boston Logan Airport is on. The line on Google Maps was a ferry it wanted me to take. But take a boat just to take a train back? I might as well just run home and keep running! So that’s what I did. Until I looked at my map again:

NOW, I was equidistant from MIT and the airport if i ran around the LONG way. And so I did. Because I had runners high and I’m an idiot.

Eventually I get a call from my friend, Sydney (MA Resident), who asks when I’ll be back at Simmons. Unbeknownst to her, I was on the journey of a lifetime, to THE Boston Logan International Airport…on foot. I told her what I was up to, and she showed concern. Like a lot of concern. It was dark and night. But I was FINE, I told her. I was almost to the bridge, and then it’s a clear shot to the airport train station.

And as I’m on the phone with her I reach the bridge and realize…it’s a tunnel. A tunnel for cars.

But now I’ve gone too deep. I have to get to the airport now. I don’t want to give up. I have a fire in my blood and by golly I’m going to see that sweet sweet tarmac if it’s the last thing I do. So I recalculate and plan to run across…the next bridge. Or maybe the next one? I share my location with Sydney and get to running.

This is where it stopped being fun. I wasn’t in the populated plazas anymore, I was just on some street. Like it was still a well lit street, but it wasn’t really enjoyable anymore. I was just running now because I had to, not because I wanted to. Eventually I get a call from my roommate, Noah (another Bostonian). Sydney has told him my Great Plan, and he was not an enthused as I had hoped.

“Kayode, you can’t run to the airport. The city is literally designed that way,” he said.

“Keep the SAME ENERGY when it happens,” I told him confidently. “There’s a bridge on the north end, I can make it.”

“Just come home, we’re already proud of you, you ran like 6 miles, just come home.”

“Ok, but how much more proud will you be when I run all the way to the airport?”

“Honestly, I’ll think you’re an even bigger idiot if you keep running. It won’t make me any more proud of you.”

And then I had to stop. What was I doing? Why was I so determined to run to the airport? Through an unknown area in an unknown city at NIGHT. Suddenly the reality of the danger I was about to put myself through sank in. It would be more than an hour until I reached the airport. I needed to go home.

And so go home I did. I ran to the Orange Line and road the train back to MIT. I have not run since.

Final Route. Would not recommend.

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…

I shared this story in a blogger meeting, to which Petey (Resident Bostonian) showed immediate and intense concern with me going through that area of Boston. He wanted to be very clear that I should NOT run across the Chelsea Bridge at night, ever. It’s the site of some real bad things that have happened, and wouldn’t be a fun time.

So now I have shared this cautionary tale with all of you.

Moral of the story: Don’t try to run to the airport, or to any unknown location, much less at night.

map of good places to run

There are lots of great, safe places to run in Boston, and until I started to leave those areas I was having tons of fun!! Hopefully I can get back into it when it gets warmer but for now, I’ll stick to staying indoors and psetting⁠03 I just absolutely DEMOLISHED a 2.001 (Statics and Dynamics I) Pset. Like, one sitting, minimal help from a classmate, I devoured it like it was nothing. 😭😭😭.

Note from while editing: I started running again. I think i just got spooked out of it. Editing this reminded me of a passage of scripture that I just went to re-read (1 Corinthians 9: 24-27). It’s in part of a letter from the apostle Paul to the Church of Corinth, and he talks about running races and running in a way is if to win, but ALSO not running like a man running aimlessly (me) or fighting like a man beating the air, but to do it so as to work towards winning the spiritual race. I need to run as if to win this spiritual / literal race. Maybe I’ll try for the Charlie Card Challenge?