Area Track Facilities

Track Work: City of Rochester Part I – by Mike Warner

Charlotte Middle School (my alma mater – back when)

At 4115 Lake Avenue in Charlotte. You may park in the small school lot off of Atwell St., at the northwest corner of the school – it’s a short walk to the track on the upper level of the back campus. DO NOT park on Atwell St. or Hewitt St., you could be ticketed. This is a good local track, nicely paved, wide-open area, lots of grass infield and out. It is fenced and gated but frequently open. Charlotte has a very large and beautiful campus where you can do an extensive grass runs as well. This school was originally built as a Jr/Sr High School and has the High School feel to it.

Frederick Douglass Middle School

At 940 Fernwood Park off of Waring Road. Good parking in the school lot on Fernwood. This track also has a high school feel to it. It’s a great paved surface with newly painted lanes with a very “open” feel to it. While closed and locked during school hours, it’s usually open to the community nights and weekends. The downside is it’s heavily used by youth and adult sports teams (soccer, football) who have permits – so give way to them. It’s a large campus with lots of nicely cut grass for off track runs.

James Madison School of Excellence

Located on 200 Genesee Street, north of Jim Dalberth’s Sporting Goods and south of St. Mary’s/Bulls Head. This is a beautiful, well-maintained, paved track. It’s the most open of all of the City tracks, probably because it’s part of the SW Community Center campus. The downside is that there are often events scheduled there. Parking is on all 4 sides of the campus. Parking on Epworth St. (backside of the campus) will allow you to see your car. The track is neither fenced nor gated with no surrounding buildings hiding it.

East High School

1801 East Main Street at Culver. This is a beautiful track, well maintained.

Benjamin Franklin High School

950 Norton Street at the corner of Hudson Avenue, just south of the Keeler St. Expressway. This facility has a recently resurfaced track and is rated as one of the best facilities in the area. The track area is fenced and gated (locked) frequently owing to vandalism but when I went there on a Saturday I found the gate between the school and the track (north side of the school) open and runners using it. There’s a good parking lot off of Kilmar St. which runs off of Norton on the east side of the campus.

Edison Technical and Occupational Education Center

655 Colfax Street off Lexington Avenue across from Kodak’s Distribution Center and just off Route 390. There’s lots of parking off of Colfax St. This is a very nice looking paved track in a very open area. Like Charlotte, it is situated on a large, well maintained grass campus, perfect for off track/softer jogging. The facility is heavily fenced and gated, but I did find two open gates on a Saturday with local folks using the track and hitting golf balls.

Wilson Magnet High School

501 Genesee Street and Arnett Blvd., just north of Jim Dalberth’s. Wilson does not have a track facility but I am told it has a nice sprinter’s lane.

John Marshall High School

At 180 Ridgeway Avenue, between lake Ave. and Dewey Ave.. Marshall does have an informal track, which looks like red cinder with some grass encroaching on it. But it was dry and clean. There is a very nice paved sprinter’s track. But the facility is highly fenced, gated and very locked. Very limited parking.

Thomas Jefferson Middle School

This track facility is maintained by the City Recreation Department. It’s located at Edgerton Park between the City Recreation buildings and Jefferson Middle School. There’s an open parking lot off Dewey Avenue just south of Emerson St. The track is painted concrete with eight narrow lanes marked. There’s no ‘crest’, so the track accumulates water after a rain. The field is fenced but the track is easy to get to. Only short spikes or flat running shoes allowed.