Rochester By the Numbers

A group of people run across a bridge over water during the day

A LOOK INSIDE THE FLOWER CITY

A person riding a bike on the road

2

The number of “events” in a duathlon. It’s a hard-as-heck run-bike-run combination event. While the sport seems to have gone out of vogue in recent years, Ellen Brenner and David Boutiller (Boots) of Fleet Feet Sports Rochester, are working hard to keep it alive through several events each year (watch the Rochester episode of Run This Town to learn more). And they have the credentials to do it. Boots is a former professional duathlete. He was on the US National Duathlon team nine times and took home Gold at the 1996 World Duathlon Championships in Italy. His advice for how to best prepare for the event? "Run hard, ride hard, and relish being in discomfort and also inflicting the same on others."

Learn more. Watch Run This Town.
A group of people run across a bridge over water during the day

4

The number of bridges you cross during the Rochester Marathon, a scenic USATF-certified course that offers participants some of the best views the historic city has to offer.

Learn more.
A restaurant sign

46

The number of years Jines Restaurant has been open on Park Avenue in Rochester. Brenner has lived within a square mile of the restaurant since she moved to Rochester in 1993. She shows up every Monday afternoon to grab lunch and work. In fact, if it’s Monday and you can’t find her, she says, “Just call Jines.”

Watch Run This Town and learn more about Jines.
A man and woman run across a bridge during a race

96

The number, in feet, that High Falls drops. It's a behemoth down pouring of Genesee River water and a historical Rochester icon. It's also one of three waterfalls in the area.

A group of runners run across a bridge over a lake during the day

157

Number of miles of the Genesee River, a tributary of Lake Ontario that slices through the middle of Rochester. It is one of only two rivers in the United State the flow south to north (the other is the French Broad River in Asheville, NC). It supported Rochester’s booming flour mill industry in the early 1900s and, today, still provides hydroelectric power for parts of the city.

A runner on a trail near a cemetery

350,000


The approximate number of people buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, one of the oldest rural cemeteries in the United States (people say that there are more people buried in the Cemetery than live in Rochester). You will find the graves of many notable people here including Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, and George Eastman. If you’re not afraid of ghosts, the old streets and paths make for some great running, albeit hilly. (FYI, the Rochester Marathon course goes through Mount Hope.)

Find out more.
A person running at sunrise

39

The size, in acres, of Ontario Beach Park, a park that contains one of the most pristine natural sand beaches of the Great Lakes. Relax here on a sunny day, walk along the pier, or go for a sailboat ride.

Boots (one of the Fleet Feet Sports Rochester owners), grew up sailing here. "Rochester is an awesome boating region," he says. "Between Lake Ontario and all of its harbors and bays, the Finger Lakes, and the Genesee River there is plenty of opportunity to get out on the water."

Watch Run This Town now.