The Mile π Club

As my regular readers are likely already aware¹, today – March 14th – is Pi-Day. If you are someone who has never heard of Pi-Day, know that it is only the most mathemagical days of the year. That is, today is the day when nerds and geeks from around the world unite to celebrate the much-loved and ubiquitous constant identified by the greek letter $\pi$ . We celebrate on March 14 because the first three digits of $\pi$ are 3.14 – which looks like the date 3/14.

To celebrate, it is customary to enjoy pie in all of its glorious forms – apple pie, lemon pie, pecan pie, cherry pie, blueberry pie, or any other fruit filled pie, pot pie, or pizza pie you can think of.

And not being one to go against such a delicious custom, today I opted for not one but two slices of pie – because if one slice of pie is good, then two slices of pie would clearly be better². The first, an apple cherry crumble topped pie, was enjoyed while meeting with Justin, my Undergraduate Research Student extraordinaire³. The second, a basic apple pie, was enjoyed with Mr. Jasper Tey⁴, pi and pie lover, and also a fellow member of the Nerd Caucus.

Pie #2: Apple pie. I'm sure I now have π-abetes.

For those of you who might be curious, the verdict on slice number 1 – de-freaking-licious. Sadly, the second slice wasn’t nearly as good. Perhaps it was because I was suffering pie overload, or perhaps I’m just a pie snob. Also, I think it gave me $\pi$ -abetes. Ha! I kill me. Seriously though, that second slice was mad sweet.

Now, I’m not one to normally eat pie on a regular basis, let alone eat two slices of pie. So, to offset this onslaught of extra and definitely empty Calories, I decided that a run was necessary. Given the awesome weather, a run was required.

The run was great. My legs felt good, the weather was fantastic, the sun was shining, birds were chirping, and I saw my first robin (a clear sign of spring).

Now because I’m really that much of a nerd, I decided that my run should reflect the Pi-y nature of the day. And what better distance to run on Pi-Day than Pi miles⁵. That’s right folks, Pi miles – approximately 5.05590329 kilometres (rounded to the nearest 100 millionth of a kilometre).

Screen Shot 2012-03-14 at 10.40.25 PM — My Pi-Day run.

Put another way, my goal was to run 5 kilometres 55 metres 90 centimetres, and a little more than 3 millimeters. Of course, RunKeeper won’t give me that fine a measurement – only providing a resolution of 10s of metres. That meant I had to either run 5.05 or 5.06 kilometres. Clearly doing less than Pi miles would be unacceptable. As such, I had to run slightly more.

And that, dear readers, is why I am now a full-fledged member of the Mile $\mathbf{\pi}$ Club⁶. Entrance to the club is easy – you just have to run Pi miles on Pi-Day. Add it to your lists. You know you want to.

Anyway, I hope your Pi-Days were filled with whatever it is that gets your nerd juices flowing. Because that is what Pi-Day is all about – embracing and celebrating your inner nerd.

Happy Pi-Day all y’all. Happy Pi-Day indeed!

¹ Because perhaps I won’t shut up about it.

² This also should placate those that would rather celebrate $\tau$ which is equal to $2\pi$ . Check out here for more details regarding the $\pi$ / $\tau$ controversy.

³ From With the Grain. Sooooo freaking good.

⁴Jasper was also the mad mind behind the awesome PiDays website. Check it out and figure out how old you are in Pi Years. Seriously nerdy business.

⁵I would have opted for Pi kilometres, but figured that distance was too short for such a beautiful day. Also, I need to get my butt in gear for the 30k Around the Bay race that happens in 11 days. Eep!

⁶I may be the only member. I Googled “Mile Pi Club” and found nothing, except for the following joke:

What do really rich mathematicians all have in common?

They’re all part of the “Mile Pi Club”.

Celebrate National Pi Day With A Big, Sloppy Slice Of Don McLean’s “American Pie” (jack.radio.com)
Squee – It’s Almost Nerdmas (consumedbywanderlust.wordpress.com)
Nerd Wars (consumedbywanderlust.wordpress.com)
10 Ways To Celebrate Pi Day (entertainment.slashdot.org)
Three things you should do in honor of Pi Day (ashleeeats.com)
Math Geeks Unite, Celebrate Pi Day with Greeting Cards from Greeting Card Universe (prweb.com)
Happy π (Pi) Day! (cinnamon-bubbles.org)
Pi Day 3.14 Things We’re Geeking Out About (myp3r.wordpress.com)
3.1415926535897932384626433832 … (blog-aauw.org)

10 Comments Add yours

Beth says:

March 15, 2012 at 12:49 pm

I had a chicken pot pi for lunch yesterday. It was mathy-licious!

dangillis says:

March 15, 2012 at 1:19 pm

Mmmm, chicken pot pi. YUM.
I basically had pie for lunch and dinner. Both full of sugary goodness.

Reply
1. Beth says:
  
  March 15, 2012 at 1:39 pm
  
  Also, I totally meant to say that I’m adding “Join the Mile Pi Club” to my next 101 List of Things to Do!
  
  Reply
  1. dangillis says:
    
    March 15, 2012 at 2:15 pm
    
    I approve of this. I approve of this long time and repeatedly.
    I think we need a webpage for this. I imagine EVERYONE would want to do it.
    
    Reply
    1. Beth says:
      
      March 15, 2012 at 2:16 pm
      
      It’s true. I think by the end of the day on next year’s Pi Day, your webpage will have a list of 6 billion people who have all joined the club.
      
      Reply
      1. dangillis says:
        
        March 15, 2012 at 2:33 pm
        
        Clearly. 🙂