Boilermaker 2013: 24 Seconds

Race: The Boilermaker
Where: Utica, NY
When: July 14, 2013
Result: 56:05, 1st age (of 620), 116 overall (of 11371).

My First Boilermaker race. Definitely not my last.

Me. 24 seconds. Davey. $300. That was all that separated me from a master’s cash prize at the biggest 15k roadrace in the USA.

The Boilermaker was started and sponsored by – wait for it – a company called ECR Intl in Utica that makes boilers. Something near and dear to any mechanical engineer’s heart. And what engineer does not love beer? Don’t answer that! So the race starts fittingly at the boiler factory and ends at the Saranac brewery, as it has since its inauguration over 35 years ago.

Just as the Boston marathon is loved by Bostonians, the Boilermaker is beloved by Uticans, and I think more so. The finish line is a permanent fixture of wrought iron. Many of the mile markers are also set permanently along the roadside. I walked through some pretty sketchy parts of Utica before the race. The locals saw my RF shirt and just cheered: BOILERMAKER! Just don’t go there after dark (they can’t see your race shirt).

For a race capped at 15,000 there are 5,000 volunteers. Every detail is handled to perfection. The online registration opened and closed in 68 hours. If you want to go, better be on the ball for next year.

Did I mention the beer is free? Not just one or two cups, but as much as you can throw back in around 3 hours, together with up to 40,000 revellers. The whole town and then some was there! The race starts at 8 am Sunday and the party wraps up not long after 12 noon when the neighborhood pubs open. The faster you run, the more beer you can drink. Awesome. Then you go to the pubs and have more! Awesome sauce!

There is a live band cranking out favorites. And with 40,000 strong it does not take long for a full concert/party atmosphere to get rolling. Seriously hot sun. Bouncing beach balls in front of the stage. Flyovers by the US Air Force. Can it get better? It does. Canadians just rocked this party and the race. Best post-race party. Ever.

Most runners from the GTA leave Saturday morning for Utica. Depending on the mood of the border guards, this is a five hour trip. Needless to say, there is a mad rush to get to and through the expo before it closes. After that, it is off to hotel rooms. Within 15 minutes of checking in, it seemed everyone had swapped rooms and partners, and absolutely no one seemed to have the correct room key. Okay, onto the race!

The course is 15k but measured in miles, so bless the USA, it is 9 miles and change. Even at 8 am, the sun was hot and temps climbing into the 80’s with wicked humidity. This felt so much like the start of Boston 2012, only worse. I had an elite bib as did Jeff Fyfe. Off we went, with every expectation that I was going to do some damage to their previous best of around 55:30.

I took the lead on Jeff for the first two miles of the course which gradually started to climb. I also kept check on some Black Lungs from Toronto including Anthony Davey, Michael Doyle and Shawn Davies (Clear Sky). I let Davey go. I know he cannot tolerate such heat for long and that I would be seeing him again. The climb continued onto a golf course road, the increasing grade slowing my pace. Jeff slipped by and told me to go, but I told him I would catch him later. I was working it about as hard as I wanted, which was just not hard enough.

Jeff called it after the race. My hill climbing sucks. I have got to work on my leg strength. If I do, then look out. Just after 4 miles, I got my break: as steep as we had gone up, we were now going down. I had slowed to almost 7:00/mile pace dogging the climb, but I was now flying at 5:00/mile Kenyan style! I screamed by Jeff and kept pushing. I had reached 4 miles in 25:05 and passed 5 miles in 30:15, my fastest mile split ever. The Black Lungs and Davey were almost in reach.

The ground levelled and Jeff caught me again, and the next climb started. I watched Jeff and the Lungs fade again into the distance, knowing once more the game would tilt in my favour. I had jogged the last half of the course the day before. Mentally I was ready. I pushed over the top just past Utica College and let fly again. The 8th mile flew by at 3:30/k pace. Jeff was getting closer. I could make out a Black Lung and knew it was Davey by his “Loverboy” bandanna.

I knew it was coming: the final heart breaker. Around the corner and the pitch immediately turns upward for one final climb. But this time I made sure not to lose ground on Jeff and he was narrowing the gap on Davey. Past the 9 mile marker and the climb was over; now a final downhill hero’s welcome to the finish. Time to burn both Jeff and Davey at the line! My legs wobbled and my head floated off my body. Lala land was bouncing in front of my eyes. My chance to reel in Jeff and Davey evaporated as so much of my sweat had already.

So we gathered past the finish line and quickly got into the suds. Not a thought to master’s placings or even age prizes. I knew my time sucked and there was no chance I would be on the awards list today. Kudos to Mr. Davey. He had finally learned to run in serious heat. And his reward is my bitter lesson, to never ever give up in a race, cause you just don’t know who else had a worse day than you.

But that little disappointment was not learned until well after the party had ended. To learn afterward of my first age was just the icing on the cake. It was just an awesome day. I can’t wait for next year!

Canadians who ROCKED Boilermaker:

Llioudmilla Kortchaguina: 54:14 – 2nd master female – $1500
Anthony Davey: 55:45 – 5th master male – $300
Geoff Riggs: 55:56 – 2nd age (40-44)
Daniel MacKinnon: 56:05 – 1st age (45-49)
Robert Campbell: 58:04 – 1st age (50-54)
Merv Hodgson: 1:29:01 – 1st age (75-79)

And those CANADIAN COWGIRLS – We know who you are!