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.
| NEIGHBORHOOD PROFILE |
| * Who: Bill Thompson, owner of Bill’s Barbershop on Whitesboro Street. * Watch spot: In front of his barbershop on the corner of Whitesboro Street and Faass Avenue. * Boilermaker history: Native of Utica who watched his first Boilermaker six years ago when he opened the barbershop. He’s watched the road race with his in-laws, friends and customers each year since. His wife, Angela, is running her sixth Boilermaker on Sunday. * Boilermaker thoughts: “It’s great. The only reason I didn’t watch it before I opened the shop was because I never woke up in time,” Thompson said. “I’m glad I do now though. It’s amazing how many people you see run by and yell your name when there are just masses of bodies going by.” |
After all, they have built what some would call a dynasty, winning the Boilermaker Block Party Spectator Contest in four of the competition’s seven years.
The success comes as no surprise to West Utica spectator contest team captain Albert Zeina.
“West Utica is really good when it comes to having a party and we all want the party,” Zeina said. “We’re all family in West Utica.”
A lifelong resident of the neighborhood, Zeina said it’s the close relationships of the people and their welcoming attitudes, along with a sense of pride, that make West Utica so difficult to beat.
“I want to be proud of West Utica,” said Zeina, captain since the contest’s inception in 2001. “We are a big family with a big community in West Utica. So I want to be proud and I want to win.”
Merill Constantine was part of the West Utica cheering squad long before the spectator contest was introduced. The 73-year-old West Utican has shouted encouragement to Boilermaker runners from outside his home on Court Street since the road race began in 1978.
“Every year,” Constantine said. “I only missed it in the second and third year on account of my job. Other than that, I’ve been at every one. I think it’s a great thing for West Utica. We’re the finish line.”
He’ll be watching again Sunday, trying to help his West Utica team win the spectator contest for the second-straight year.
“I’ll be out there,” Constantine said. “I’ve got a Boilermaker T-shirt on every year.”
While loyalty is certainly a big part of West Utica’s winning ways, so is its ability to recruit newcomers to the cheering ranks.
Last year, Willis Williams, 59, walked from his Whitesboro Street boarding home to Court Street to watch his first Boilermaker at the urging of a West Utica friend.
“I was surprised,” Williams, a two-year Utica resident, said. “It was my first time seeing it and I really enjoyed it.”
After being part of the winning neighborhood last year, Williams said he will do his best to make sure West Utica takes home the title again.
“It makes me feel good to win,” Williams said. “We’ll be rooting for everyone.”
So while hordes of runners with jelly-like legs and visions of chilled Saranac make their way down the course’s home stretch, one thing is for sure – West Uticans will be lining the sidewalks, cheering their hearts out.
“The team is going to be very strong at the finish line,” Zeina said. “We’re not going to do anything different. ... We have the bands. We have the people. We expect to win.”
