The Boilermaker started with 800 runners and a $750 budget
Utica's 15K has run every year since 1978 except 2020. It finishes outside the F.X. Matt Brewery.
By Owen Tafel
The first Boilermaker Road Race was run on July 16, 1978. It had a $750 budget and 800 local runners.
The name comes from one of its first sponsors, the Utica Radiator Corporation, now Utica Boilers, whose offices are near the start. A wheelchair race was added in 1980. The race got national attention in 1983 when Bill Rodgers won in 44:38.
The course is a USATF-certified 15 kilometers, or 9.3 miles, mostly in Utica, with stretches through New Hartford and Yorkville near Utica University. It climbs and drops 300 feet, and it is run in July heat, so winning times are slower than at most 15Ks. It finishes outside the F.X. Matt Brewery, where the party is.
From 1997 to 2006 it was the largest 15K in the country. The Gate River Run in Jacksonville later passed it.
The race is normally on the second Sunday in July. The only year it was not held was 2020, because of COVID-19, and the 2021 race was moved to Oct. 10.