Synopsis: Boilermaker is an huge 15K super competitive run in Utica, NY – fully endorsed with massive town support. There is an epic after-party, tons of snacks and treats – and free beer to boot at the legendary Saranac Brewery. If you’ve never run 15K before, this is your venue. Come join 8500 participants for the run, at 8:00, or the smaller 3500 person 5K that starts at 7:00am. That’s 12,000 runners in all!
Event Name: Boilermaker Road Race
Location: Utica, New York
Date: Sunday, Aug 9, 2023
Briefly describe the overall venue & course:
Point to point course that starts on the outskirts of Utica and traces a well marked route through town, up sizable hill through the golf course at the 5K mark, and then lets you have your best KM interval during the descent onto the roadway. The final 5K also has a small steady long climb, then it’s straight down to the finish area. With 18 water stops, including ice: at least as many bands, it’s a wonderful event. The last half of the race is in town, and there are thousands of spectators cheering on the course.
My Race Experience:
Boilermaker was one of the short road-trips Judy and I decide to head down for. It’s only 4-5 hours away, as well as being a fantastic area to visit. We put out the word, and a few folks from RunK2J signed up, and we had a small outing. With other folks we know heading down as well, it’s going to be a small tribe gathering!
Heading down Saturday morning, it’s a simple drive to get to the race expo to look around, and pickup our race bibs and packets. Of course, we’re recognized by two of the volunteers who happened to be from Ottawa – small world. The expo is quite large, with plenty of booths – great to see Jason and Josh from Peak-2-Brew, and we connected for a while as we have not seen them for a few years! Afterwards, head over to our Hotel in nearby Ilion, and head over to a restaurant on the Erie Canal system that Mike discovered. As we arrive, we meet another Ottawa troop, with Heather and Kaniko and gang, so time for an Ottawa group shot as well! Small world, and we’re all in prep for race mode tomorrow.
Race Day is Sunday, and we’re up at a relaxed pace, grabbing breakfast, and driving off to the nearby start. There’s lots of parking, and dropping off a clear plastic bag of goods at the start means we’ll have fresh shirts & comfy shoes for the inevitable after party. The race starts at 8:00am, and the pre-start announcements were going strong when we arrived. With the arrival of two black-hawk helicopters from the nearby military base, we heard the USA national anthem, and we were off to start our 15K of fun in the humid warmish muggy morning.
For me the race went OK, but not great – slow start for the first 3-4K as I’m working through some cramps and getting going. Lots of spectators and crowds, as the people are thick during the first few KMs of the course. At around 4-5K, there is a turn up a reasonable hill, and a full km slog to the top, in two pushes though a golf course. This finally separates out the runners, and the downhill portion for the next 1.5km make up for the hard work. With 18 water stations on the 15K course, it’s easy to always get water to drink and dunk some down your back to try to stay cool. Running past the zoo is also a highlight, as the keepers there bring out animals to watch the race: brown snakes and tortoise were there as I jogged by. At this point, we’re half way, and well inside the town of Utica – there are people everywhere cheering, and handing out goodies. I grabbed a frozen orange popsicle, and it was great to munch on to get some sugar and coolness into my system. Another few zig-zags through town, and second more gradual climb brought us past the 12K mark, with only 3K to go. “Hey, anyone can do 3K” I thought to myself, and motored on enjoying the run. Fortunately, the last 3K is nearly all downhill, and I continued to pickup water and ice on the final stretch. I could see the finish line from 500m away, and cruised under the arch, happy at the accomplishment.
Boilermaker is great, and the 5-6 block journey started here as we got medals, water, chips, chocolate milk, popsicles, bagels, bananas and other goodies along the way toward Saranac Brewery, where the after-party was in full swing. True to form, numerous stations were setup, and volunteers were pouring beers into glasses as fast as possible, for all the thirsty runners that have finished.
Found the crew of Judy, Yvonne and Mike – along with Heather & gang who had great races. We also seemed to crew up with another Ottawa bunch ‘Somerset Runners’, who were really enjoying the post race party! Grabbing our clean cloths, was able to change out of my wet gear, and enjoy hanging out with the crew. There were tons of samples being handed out at the party as well: fruit and energy drinks, gator aid, chips, yogurt drinks, bananas & bagels, and soft cookies to boot. The bands on the stage were in full swing, and winners were also announced – along with male and female course records this year! Hey, even managed to find Josh and Jason again from P2B. Great seeing these guys. Beers continued to flow endlessly, and the after-party kept rolling, finally starting to wind down at noon. For us, simple task to gather all the goodies we had, hop onto yellow school bus, and take shuttle back to where the car was.
As the designated non-drinker, Harold zipped everyone back to the hotel in Ilion, and we grabbed a shower and a short pause before heading out for a late lunch/early dinner in nearby Coopertown (home of Baseball), beside tranquil Otsego Lake. Great race, fun run, and enjoyable afternoon with friends! Hope to get more RunK2J participation next time around for this great little location.
Would you do this event again?
For sure, and as a matter of fact, did this last year too – so I’m a repeat participant…. and anticipate will be doing this again next summer. Lots to enjoy in the area.
Would you recommend this event?
Absolutely – great to see this many people having this much fun during the after party. There is more food/snacks/beverages than I’ve seen anywhere else. Did I already mention free beer available at the finish!
Closing thoughts. Any hints for others planning to do this race? Where to stay? Things to bring? What to wear? We stayed in a small town of Ilion, outside of Utica which is a good starting point to get to the start of the race. Nice restaurants nearby on the Erie Canal. Definitely take advantage of the bag check for dry cloths at the finish line, and some comfy sandals for the shuttle bus ride back to where the start was.
Other Venue Info:
Overall Venue Rating: 5 – Awesome: race is great, and Saranac Brewery, and the whole town of Utica put on a great finish area.
Rate the course: 5 – Awesome. Love the course, even the hills.
Please rate the aid stations: 5 – There are 18 water stops on 15K of running, most with ice available on hot days, even for a guy who’s going to finish 90-120 minutes!
How was the weather?
Can go a few ways, though in 2023, it was warm and humid, even at 8:00am. Took water at most stations, and dumped the rest on me to stay cool. Even put some ice in my hat. This year, we were coming off a heat wave, so probably 18-20C at the start, and warmed up in the morning.
Run K2J 