Mohawk Valley Junior Golf Tour makes stop at Valley View CC

On Monday, some of the Mohawk Valley’s youth launched Boilermaker week … with their drivers. 

The ground the tee shots covered is on the same grounds that more than 11,000 people will run through on Sunday, competing with the same hills and, most likely, the same heat. 

The golfers that participated in the Mohawk Valley Junior Golf Tour Boilermaker Classic said golf was their way of being part of race week. 

International Mile livens up Culver Avenue

The opening miles of the Utica Boilermaker Road Race in East Utica used to be a known as a dead zone, where few spectators stood to watch the race early Sunday morning.

“You see everybody park and watch the beginning and then hop in their cars and take off to the finish line,” Culver Avenue resident Carol Ambrose said.

That’s changed since 2006, however. The second mile of the race has been given a distinctly international flavor.

‘People here have a lot of pride’

South Utica has it tough when it comes to the Boilermaker Block Party Spectator Contest.

While fans gather in masses along the Memorial Parkway and westward along Burrstone Road to the Utica College area, they face the task of winning over thousands of runners embarking on one of the most difficult stretches of the 15K Utica Boilermaker Road Race.

The long, gradual, open-air climb up Burrstone Road, two-thirds of the way into the 9.3 mile trek, tests the will of runners old and new.

Champlin Avenue takes on all-American feel

It’s going to feel like the Fourth of July all over again Sunday for 15K Utica Boilermaker Road Race runners.

The event’s inaugural Patriotic Mile along Champlin Avenue and part of Whitesboro Street will feature a red, white and blue balloon arch, bands and American flags lining the course.

It’s part of the annual Boilermaker spectator contest, New Hartford/Yorkville team captain Kevin McDonald said.

Neighborhood dynasty hopes to continue success

As runners near the end of their Boilermaker journey, they will be greeted by cheers of encouragement from the Boilermaker’s best fans.

According to West Uticans, that is.

While some might dispute the claim, residents of Utica’s West side, who fill the sidewalks from Whitesboro Street down through the finish line on Court Street, have the resume to back it up.

Boilermaker spectators can text choices

This year’s Block Party Spectator Contest for the Utica Boilermaker Road Race is going high tech.

Advanced planning is advised for post-race party-goers

Running Utica’s Boilermaker 15K Road Race is challenging enough. 

Reuniting with family and friends afterwards, somewhere out there in the sweaty sea of humanity the annual Boilermaker Post-Race Party has become, can be almost as challenging. 

Boilermaker family running on emotion

Boilermaker Committee Run began with a moment of silence. 

The last time many of the committee members had seen each other was at Bob Ingalls’ funeral on Saturday. 

Starting with Wednesday’s passing of Ingalls, a former Boilermaker Race Director, it has been a tough week for the Boilermaker family. 

But in Sunday’s run and far beyond, that’s exactly what the members call themselves, a family. 

Road race changes with new leadership

Runners at next week’s Boilermaker Road Race might not know Executive Director Tim Reed and Race Director Jim Stasaitis. 

But they probably will notice some changes made by the two who took over after last year’s 30th anniversary of the 15K. 

Reed already has added events and tweaked others. The Road Runner Mile will be inaugurated this year. And the Saturday walk has been shortened and the course changed in an attempt to make it more user-friendly. 

Older runners the norm

The running boom that began in this country in the early 1970s may not be racing full speed ahead, but the running population is still on the rise, and so is the age of our runners. 

Utica’s Boilermaker 15K Road Race is getting older, too. 

Since 1985, the average age of a Boilermaker runner has risen nearly four years – from 32.9 years old in ’85 to 36.8 in 2006 – and that aging process appears to be consistent no matter what the distance.