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.
| NEIGHBORHOOD PROFILE |
| * Who: Cathie Sciortino of Holland Avenue. * Watch spot: Corner of Holland Avenue and the Memorial Parkway. * Boilermaker history: The lifelong resident of Utica remembers watching the first Boilermakers when she was in high school. In past years, she has worked as a volunteer at water stations, but this year she will be holding a sign as she cheers on her daughter, Amanda, who is running her second Boilermaker. * Boilermaker thoughts: “It’s a big thing for our community,” Sciortino said. “It brings in a lot of revenue and it puts us on the map as a community. And it’s also a lot of fun.” |
And it tests the fans, too, as they must scream extra loud and cheer extra hard if they hope to win the annual spectator contest. To date, South Utica has won only once in the seven years of the contest.
“It’s a tough section of the race,” five-year South Utica resident T.J. Piersma said. “But everybody wants to be a part of it and help the cause. You want to win it because that’s where you’re from. People here have a lot of pride about living in South Utica.”
Mark Piersma, T.J. Piersma’s brother, is the spectator contest captain for South Utica. Despite not living in the area that he leads, Mark Piersma insists that the amount of time he spends at his Genesee Street office, coupled with his enthusiasm for the Boilermaker and the entire Mohawk Valley, makes him a worthy leader.
“I’m here almost as much as I’m at my house, so I know South Utica well,” he said.
To Mark Piersma, the spectator contest is a wonderful way to enhance the Boilermaker experience through some friendly competition between the thousands of fans involved. It’s also a fun experience for him, as the man best-known for his role as the witty sidekick on the Bill Keeler Show, gets to be involved in the area’s biggest attraction.
“We just love to bust chops about the contest,” Mark Piersma said of his fellow spectator contest captains. “(New Hartford/Yorkville captain) Kevin McDonald loves to get on everybody and just talk trash. (West Utica captain) Albert Zeina does the same thing. He always says, ‘You’ll never beat me.’”
Mark Piersma’s laid-back approach to the contest is shared by South Utica Boilermaker fan Noelle Ferris.
Ferris has watched each of the past seven Boilermakers at the end of the Memorial Parkway – the beginning of the designated South Utica cheering section – since getting married.
While she enjoys cheering as part of the South Utica clan, the spectator contest title is not exactly at the forefront of her mind. She prefers to simply enjoy herself while encouraging the runners.
“It’s an exciting feeling,” Ferris said. “Especially to see my husband come by.”
Perhaps it is this casual approach that has led South Utica to become the neighborhood to go the longest since last winning the contest. The area captured its last and only spectator crown in 2003.
But, remind Mark Piersma of that, and the second-year South Utica captain becomes a bit more serious.
“Bragging rights,” Mark Piersma said. “Totally bragging rights to have the party and get that trophy. To say that we won, it’s a really big deal because everybody gets so into it.
“Pride in our area is really what it is.”
