Today was my fifth (chip times - 2013: 1:18:07, 2014: 1:13:41, 2015: 1:11:54 and 2016: 1:12:25) running of the Boilermaker 15K in Utica NY. I will try my best to put down in words the Boilermaker experience. My alarms (yes, I set 2 alarms) went off at 3:05 AM. I was sound asleep when they went off so I was bolted awake. I got about 4.5 hours of sleep. It would have to do since I can't sleep on a bus or airplane. I have tried. I let my darling wife, Christine, sleep. She wasn't coming to this race unlike the previous four. We had deemed a $35 bus trip as a frivolous expense. I suggested that maybe she should consider running or walking next year's Boilermaker. She is signed up for the Race with Grace 10K on Thanksgiving. I set up the coffeemaker for 8:50 AM so she might have some coffee once she woke up. I dressed quickly and had my usual pre-race cereal and banana. It was going to be a bit cooler in Utica with a high around 70F but humid. I chose my Reebok shorts and an orange 2015 Shoreline Half short sleeve tech shirt. I applied BodyGlide on my nipples just in case. I packed my small running bag with a 20 ounce water bottle, sunglasses, another pair of shorts, another short sleeve tech shirt, some small towels, some protein bars and a long sleeve tech shirt (just in case).
I took the Cruze and left at 3:51 AM. I arrived down at the Park and Ride lot next to SJFC for the 11th GRTC Boilermaker bus at 4:12 AM. Strangely there wasn't much traffic on the Ontario State Parkway, I-390 or I-490, lol. This year there was only one bus making the trip. The bus was already almost full. I sat in back next to a woman named Jackie.
The bus ride was uneventful. Soon it got light as we rode eastward to Utica. I ate a bagel after we made a short pitstop at a rest area on the other side of Syracuse. I decided not to carry water or wear a hat ... but I did put on sunscreen. I do tend to be a minimalist runner that doesn't carry much. I know that if I carry a water bottle during races that I tend to stop less at water stops but don't drink as much water. I also know that if I don't carry water that I do stop at some water stops to make sure that I drink all of the water in the cup. I guess it all depends on my mood, how hot it is and the length of the race whether I carry a hand bottle of water or not. The Boilermaker 15K has lots of aid stations so you can usually get a cup of water when you need one.
The bus dropped us off around 6:50 AM. The bus drove onward to the Saranac Matt Brewery since the Boilermaker is a point to point race. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was quite bright. I started to walk about a 1/4 mile up on Dwyer Ave to the tent where the bibs were being given out. There was a long line for the A-D bibs but it moved along. This year I had a green bib which entitled me to a corral about 1/10 mile from the start. I saw some runners warming up in what looked to be a trucking company parking lot above Dwyer Ave. I met up with Prem Kumar (who was running his first Boilermaker) and ran a 2.1 mile warm up at a really nice and easy 9:19 pace, link here. I really ran just to pass the time. I took care of some business in the bushes (like a lot of runners, male or female) since the line for porta-potties was quite long. With about 30 minutes to go before the race start at 8AM I started to make my way through the crowd of runners to my green corral and made my way up to stand next to Andy Ciaio and Prem.
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| The view ahead before the start |
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| The view behind before the start |
Two versions of the race: Garmin and Strava.
And ... we were off! I could see runners moving in front of us. Soon I was walking ... trotting ... and running slowly and then running on Culver Ave. I would say that it took at least 45 seconds to get up to the start line. I slowly got up to speed. The house at the 0.1 mile mark had the same music and a guy announcing that we had 9.2 miles to go. It did amuse us for a couple of seconds! It was a bit of scrum for the first mile with faster runners trying to get around. I almost tripped twice by a couple of idiot runners who tried (successfully) to get through openings that were not wide enough. I didn't get tripped from behind either so it was all good. The road ahead was a solid sea of runners. Culver Ave turned into Memorial Parkway just after mile 1. The mile 1 clock flashed 9:05 as I ran past. I had the urge to hit the bathroom but the two porta-potties at mile 1 were occupied. I remember seeing a funny sign ... "Run Daddy! My diaper needs changing!" which made me laugh. We turned left onto Valley View Rd just before mile 3 as we made our way out to the golf course. Then it was a right onto Steele Hill Rd into the Valley View golf course. This is the "big" hill. It's a long and winding hill and is longer than it looks.
I could see a line of runners going up and up. So I did too. I slowed a bit as I made my way up. Soon I was at the top. The Strava map shows that this hill was 107 feet in elevation over 0.7 mile. I saw a porta-potty and made a beeline for it. Unoccupied! I quickly took care of business ... out and back to running! Now .. down a long downhill on Master Garden Rd at mile 4 (best pace of 6:34 according to Garmin!) and then back onto Memorial Parkway. A jog onto Genesee St, Shepard Place, Sunset Ave and then on Burrstone Rd led to mile 6. A long slight uphill started and led past the 10K mark, which doubles as the 5K start and continued on ... and on .. and on ... until a right onto Champlin Ave just past mile 7. The Strava map shows that this was 93 feet of elevation in 1.0 mile. A mild incline but just on ... on ... onward. I was determined to not stop on this stretch but I definitely was not running as fast either. I shortened my stride to deal with this. I started to walk into some (I think about 3) water stops to make sure that I downed all the water in the cup. The crowd about both sides of the streets started to swell and get louder. I remember the guy on stilts between mile 7 and 8 giving out low fives for him but high fives for us. I also saw the person in the T-Rex costume waving at us. I was definitely ready for the race to end but kept on running as best I could. I just put my head down and kept running. A right onto Whitesboro St between mile 8 and mile 9. Then a right onto Court St just before mile 9 ... getting there. There were bells and clapping and yells from both sides ... getting there. A nice downhill ... I saw Christine Antonio with her green Rochester Running Company shirt to my left ... finish line in sight .... sprint ... taking the right side of the wide chute ... finish clock around 1:15 ... done!
MarathonFoto was taking pictures .. here are a screen capture of the best three.
I was parched but kept on walking ahead with other runners. I didn't get any liquid for a while ... which would have been bad if I had needed some. The fruit cup stand gave out fruit cups that tasted heavenly. I was given a free hand towel and a small chocolate milk. Then I arrived at the Saranac Matts Brewery parking lot. I got in the food line where I picked up a banana, chips and a couple of small protein bars. I made my way across the parking lot to pick up my swag bag with its Boilermaker glass. I brought cash this year so I actually bought some Boilermaker merchandise.
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| A post race selfie |
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| The 40th anniversary Boilermake medal was a bit pricey at $10.95 so I took a pic instead |
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| Top left to bottom right: free sticker, 40th bumper sticker, DVD, bib and 40th glass |
Then I went into "people watching" mode in the park as the parking lot got more and more crowded with runners of all kinds and just took in the scenery. I had a few more nice, cold and free cups of beer from time to time. There was a lot of see. The one thing that I remembered was a woman's shirt that read: Looks like walking, feels like running. I can relate. My running during the last three miles felt like walking too. Just getting it done, man.
My stats were: gun time of 1:16:35, chip time of 1:15:38 (57 seconds to reach the start mat), 8:07 chip time pace, 1683th out of 11711, link here. I was 75nd out of 489 in my M 55-59 age group. My splits were: 8:32, 8:12, 8:08, 8:46, 7:54, 7:37, 8:05, 7:45, 8:03 and 7:04 over the last 0.44 mile. It felt like I was crawling for the last 3 miles! There was also a Boilermaker 5K with 4082 finishers, chip time link here.
So ... of the 5 Boilermakers that I have done this is my 2nd slowest ... oh well! I know I can go faster ... maybe next year or not. My faster days may be behind me but I'm still out there getting it done. The bus departed Utica a bit after noon and arrived back at where we started around 2:57 PM. I picked up pizza from Papa John's on the way home. I synced up my Garmin Forerunner 220 and caught up on Facebook. Later, Christine called me upstairs even before the sun went down ... once we dozed off I slept for about 11 hours!
All in all, a great day!!
