Douglass Statue Run 1

Weather: Intermittent Clouds, 32°F (feels like 19°F), 50% Humidity, Winds ENE @ 14 mph.
Route: 11 miles; south through Highland Park, past Mt. Hope Cemetery, through UR River Campus, into downtown past War Memorial at Blue Cross Arena, thru East End.
Time (Pace):  Approx. 1:39.45 (9:03 min/mile)

Close-up of  Douglass statue location map
from Frederick Douglass: No Soil Better.

While "quarantined" in our home for the foreseeable future, I am trying to make my four times weekly runs more interesting by routing them through some interesting community "landmarks". During long slow weekend runs in the past, I have often found myself passing (and noting) the locations of a number of the Frederick Douglass statues that pepper our city of Rochester, New York.

This morning, with a leisurely 10-or-so-mile run on tap, I decided to make it "official" and planned to pass as many of the statues that run south of the city that I could find. Never much of a social runner, self-guided tours at 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning definitely allow for appropriate social distancing while offering reprieve from at home isolation. (BONUS: flights of fancy such as this also gives me something to blog about, thus keeping my writing "chops" active.)

The locations of each of the 13 statues, actually replicas of the original made by local sculptor Olivia Kim, is available at the excellent Frederick Douglass: No Soil Better. I used this well curated website as my personal guide while pre-planning a loose running route, with some promising results...

"999 South Avenue, currently the site of Anna Murray Douglass Academy
 (School #12) This is the former site of the Douglass Family farm." (No Soil Better)

Frederick Douglass Monument by sculptor Stanley Edwards at Highland
Bowl. While not part of the set, worth checking out.

"Washington Square Park bordered by Woodbury Blvd., Court Street,
St. Mary’s Place and S. Clinton Avenue Site of Civil War “Soldiers and
Sailors” monument." (No Soil Better)

“300 Alexander Street, at the corner of East Avenue. Near the site
of Douglass’ first home in Rochester at 297 Alexander Street.” (No Soil Better)

While I picked-up three this morning (plus one extra at Highland Park Bowl), three elusive beauties remain unlocated for now. A few loops through Highland Park and onto the eerily empty UR River Campus both came up empty, though contributing to my overall mileage and supplying some beautiful scenery. Another statue reportedly located at intersection of Alexander Street and Tracy Street, the site of the Seward School, attended by Douglass’ children, also was undetected as I jogged by. Though a slightly less picturesque detour, it is always interesting to turn down slightly less familiar streets to get a flavor of neighborhood. Though I have (yet) to see the Douglass statues located therein, I'll count each count each missed opportunity as "wins"... and look forward to picking each up eventually.