Sunday Success Proves “The Boilermaker is Back!”

The Boilermaker Road Race went out without a hitch on Sunday and has improved dramatically from the devastation suffered during the COVID-19 years. Boilermaker race officials held a post-race press conference Monday to give positive news and recap the days events.

Boilermaker President Mark Donovan began his remarks at the press conference remembering his comments made in October of 2021 when they held a race that was nothing close to what is characteristic of typical "Boilermaker Nation." At that time, Donovan stated, "The Boilermaker is back," but that was only in the literal sense.

On Monday, July 15th, 2024 those words meant so much more. For years the second Sunday in July is Boilermaker Sunday. The day that symbolizes a party where a race breaks out. Since the lowest of the low in October of 2021, the race has grown dramatically and bounced back to pre-Pandemic levels.

In the registration breakdown numbers, Donovan says that in that October 2021 race there were approximately 5,000 15k participants. That is only a little more than Sunday's 5k participants. The following year in 2022, the race doubled in size and 2024 saw a 15k bib sell out with a number of 14,461 registrants. Donovan says 30% of those runners were newcomers.

For other races around the country, they are seen as an inconvenience to the municipality in which they're held. People complain about clogged and congested traffic jams, use of resources and public access restricted. Not in Utica. This is a community event that is highly anticipated every year and celebrated.

A Few Statistics to Note

• Runners came from 45 different states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
• Runners came from 11 different countries.
• Virtual race day participants included 80 for the 15k and 35 for the 5k.

As far as the medical side of things go, there were very few injuries or incidents. Nothing major. Eric Townsend is the Program Coordinator for Oneida County Public Services and he reviewed the total number of medical tent visits. All told, there were 75 runners that entered the medical tent with 5 being transported to Wynn Hospital for evaluation. Most of the incidents were heated related illness or sprained joints. All the individuals who were transported to Wynn were released without issues.

Finally, one of the big winners from Sundays events was Face Wallace, the SITRIN Boilermaker Wheelchair Participant. He had to finish the race in his regular wheelchair in 2 hours and 15 minutes. He smashed that goal finishing with a time of 1:53:58. He will be officially fitted for his new racing wheelchair in the coming weeks. Hopefully he will return next year to participate in the big race yet again. Wallace once was a runner of the race before his Multiple Sclerosis made his running days no longer possible.

Congratulations to all those who participated in the big day and it is true that the Boilermaker is back!