Here is a quiz: If the weather at the start of the week is pleasant
and in the 70’s, but each day the temperature rises so that by Sunday
the temperature is predicted to be in the mid-90’s, what week is it?
Why, of course it is the week of the Utica, NY Boilermaker race, the
largest 15K race in the country! The temperature always seems to rise
for the aptly named Boilermaker, although the race actually is named the
Boilermaker because Utica manufactured boilers.
The Saturday 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM CD/PHP Runner’s Forum “Ask the Experts” panel consisted of Bill Rodgers, 4-time winner of the NYC Marathon and 4-time winner of the Boston Marathon; Kathrine Switzer, the 1st woman to run the Boston Marathon with an official bib number 40 years ago and whose infamous run-in that day with Boston Marathon race official Jock Semple helped ignite the woman’s running movement; Roger Robinson, elite international runner for thirty years (1966-95), masters winner at the Boston Marathon and the NYC Marathon, and Emeritus Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand; and Jim LaFountain, MS-Physiologist, Utica newspaper columnist, president of the All American Fitness Center, and former baseball player with the Minnesota Twins.
The panelists answered written questions from the audience on topics such as common running injuries and how to avoid them, and how do you keep yourself going mentally on a hot day? The panelists gave insightful and often humorous responses to the questions. One of the questions of particular interest to the audience was, “Is it good for a human body to run a marathon?”
Kathrine responded, “I would like to give a female spin on this. When I first started running marathons, everybody was terribly frightened because they said I was going to grow a moustache and get big legs and my uterus was going to fall out. [Laughter]
“There was this fear that arduous sports would masculinize women. We not only refuted that, in 40 years in my own lifetime we have discovered so much. The next 40 years there is going to be absolutely phenomenal research into women’s physiology. Because women have incredible ability, we are finding out, for endurance activities.
“Clearly I do not have the muscle mass of Jim. I don’t have the strength, the power, the speed. I don’t have his muscle capacity. But I’ll bet you at 50 miles I can outrun him. And at 100 miles for sure I could. Why? Because as Roger said, at 20 miles you are out of glycogen, and you have to flip over to fat. When you flip over to fat—what we call hitting the wall—it hurts like hell when you start burning that fat. The only way you get used to that and avoid hitting the wall is to train through it a lot and understand it so your body can immediately start switching over. Women seem to be able to do this a lot better than men. Why? As any women out here can tell you, we have more fat than you guys. And that’s a good thing…”
After the Runner’s Forum I talked with course director Jim Stasaitis, who received this year’s Volunteer of the Year award. He said it belongs to all of the volunteers because their efforts made him look good. Jim then placed his silver bowl award on his head. The bowl fit quite nicely; it must be a bowler hat.
On Sunday morning I saw Jim at the starting line. I told him that since he already had received his volunteer award, he didn’t have to volunteer any more. Jim laughed and then went off to handle more of the minor problems that always befall a race.
Carrying on tradition, Peter and Luane Haggerty of Rochester, NY had an Uncle Sam doll and a multi-language sign on Dwyer Avenue, where elite athletes warm up before the race. Several elite athletes and “regular” runners autographed their sign. This year Peter and Luane had red-white-and-blue pinwheels that were strangely hypnotic: “You will not feel the heat. You will not feel the heat.”
The course officials did not rely on the pinwheels, as there were many water/ice stations and 25 EMS aid stations along the 15K course. There also were 42 entertainment groups. Mile 2 in East Utica was the International Mile, where there were belly dancers, Polish folk dancers, and Croatian and Albanian musicians in traditional costumes.
The Boilermaker has a 5K training run that finishes at the Boilermaker 15K finish line about a half hour ahead of the 15K finishers. There were 1,459 finishers in the 5K, including NY governor Elliot Spitzer in a chip time of 26:15. The winning 5K female was 14-year-old Morgan Mueller of Whitesboro, NY in a time of 20:37; she was 13th overall. The 5K race had a photo finish, with 16-year-old Sauquoit, NY runners Jeremy Hogel and Sean Massoud finishing first and second, both in a time of 17:57.
I was not there to photograph the 5K photo finish, as it took me some
time to get to the finish line due to the road closings. I got there in
time to photograph the winner of the 15K wheelchair race, Krige Schabort
of Cedartown, Georgia, who finished in a time of 32:52.
The 15K men’s race was very close. Nicholas Kamakya won in a time of 43:51, followed 4 seconds later by Peter Kamais. These were amazing performances, considering that Nicholas and Peter had finished 3rd and 6th respectively just 4 days earlier at the July 4th Peachtree 10K in Georgia. The 3rd place Boilermaker finisher was David Langat in a time of 44:29. There was a battle for 4th and 5th place, as Patrick Nthiwa nipped John Gathoga, with both finishing with official times of 44:48.
It was the day of the Kenyans, as the top 5 finishers were Kenyans. There were 7 Kenyans in the top 12 finishers, as well as 4 Ethiopians and 1 Moroccan. Then 9 of the next 12 finishers were Americans, led by Nate Jenkins in a time of 46:22, followed by Jacob Frey in a time of 46:31. The 3rd American male finisher was Chad Johnson in a time of 46:52. The number of Americans in the top 25 was due in large part to the participants from the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project.
The 15K women’s finish was even closer than the men’s, as the race was decided by a scant second. In a dramatic sprint, Lidia Simon of Romania won in 49:23, followed by Alice Timbilili of Kenya in 49:24. Nina Rillstone of New Zealand finished 3rd in 50:26. The first American female and 6th female overall was Zoila Gomez in a time of 51:26. Three seconds behind her was Maria Busienei of Charleston, WV. Melissa White was the 3rd American female finisher in 52:34 and 10th female overall.
At the finish line, the mid-pack runners showed the effects of the heat. Many runners bent over with their hands on their knees, totally spent. The EMS team was kept busy helping to support dizzy runners from falling down. One runner crossed the finish line, immediately sat down, then lay down. The EMS team took him away on a stretcher.
After the race, Mid-Hudson Road Runner Club (MHRRC) member Gary Patton said that he used a tip from Kathrine Switzer at the previous day’s Runner’s Forum. Gary took ice that was being handed out on the course and filled his cap with the ice. As he ran, the ice melted on his head and helped cool him down.
MHRRC member Larry Byrne said, “Around 8 ½ miles, there was a whole
band of bagpipes and drums, and it sounded like they were playing a
death march.” Lynne replied, “I believe they were right across from a
cemetery.” Larry said, “I just started yelling some Robert Burns at
them!” He then proceeded to quote Robert Burns prose in a very thick
Scottish brogue.
Lynne summed up the day when she said, “The Boilermaker lived up to its name and tradition by being HOT. The one difference from the previous 2 years was that the humidity was less. The sun decided to come out full blast right at the 8:00 a.m. race start time and stay shining brightly throughout the entire race. As always, however, the people of Utica were there to literally pull you along the course with cheering, music, ice fruit pops, water, ice, and sprinklers. And then there is the huge post-race party at the brewery with the beer, fighter jets fly-over, and fireworks--lots of motivation to finish! But my favorite part--besides finishing--is just being on the course, in spite of the many uphills, because of the tremendous crowd support. This was the 30th anniversary of the Boilermaker, and there were 12000 entrants. But I think the heat took its toll, as there were 10882 finishers.”
Times for some local Hudson Valley NY runners: Tom Fernekes (21) - Poughkeepsie - 1:09:31
Paul Hagan (45) - Poughkeepsie - 1:20:49 Dave Fernekes (49) - Poughkeepsie - 1:20:50 Chris Walsh (53) – Brewster – 1:24:00
Gary Patton (48) - Hopewell Junction - 1:24:37 Al Grigull (70) - Rhinebeck - 1:38:11 Larry Byrne (56) - New Windsor - 1:41:23 Lynne Kopac (54) - Poughkeepsie - 1:42:12
Link to all the pix by Bob Kopac from the race on Shutterfly