2023 Boilermaker Road Race route, registration changes: What you need to know

Snow may be on the ground, but Utica’s annual headline event sits less than seven months away.

The 2023 Boilermaker Road race will be held Sunday, July 9.

Here is what you need to know:

New race dates, route changes for Boilermaker

The 15K, 5K and wheelchair races will be on July 9, one of its earliest dates ever.

Boilermaker president Mark Donovan said he isn’t worried about the date’s proximity to July 4th since many people vacation in Central New York during that time.

The Boilermaker walk returns for a second year and is scheduled for Saturday, July 8, at Mohawk Valley Community College.

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The kids' run is set for that Saturday, and the virtual option is available again in 2023.

The health and wellness expo occurs Friday, July 7 from noon to 7 p.m. and Saturday, July 8 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at MVCC. Runners can pick up their packet and interact with different vendors.

Due to a New York state Department of Transportation construction project on lower Champlin Avenue, the course map will be changed slightly.

Instead of taking Champlin up to Whitesboro Street, runners will now turn right onto Caroline Street from Champlin near the 8-mile mark. They will then turn left onto Kellogg Avenue and finally right back onto Whitesboro for the home stretch.

Donovan said these changes reduce the length by a half-mile, so to compensate, the start lines will be pushed back slightly north on Culver Avenue for the 15k and slightly east on Burrstone Road for the 5k.

Race Director Jim Stasaitis said officials will post new mile markers on the course since the current ones can’t be moved.

Capacity limits added for race

The most significant change to the 2023 race will be a new capacity on the number of runners allowed.

A cap of 8,500 runners for the 15k and 3,500 for the 5k has been put in place. Donovan attributed the change to the loss of participants caused by the pandemic.

“Unless you are Taylor Swift or Paul McCartney or Elton John, there’s a whole bunch of small to midsize events that are in the exact same boat, whether it is the music or road running industry,” Donovan said.

He added the race lost all momentum it gathered in years prior.

In the decade leading up 2020, the race averaged 19,000 people between the 5k and 15k. In 2022, that number fell to just over 10,000 – a 40% decrease.

The cap of 12,000 is a 14% increase from the 2022 numbers, Donovan said.

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“Any expectations that road racing would simply pick back up to where it was before the pandemic were obviously bashed this year,” Donovan said.

The change is only for this year at the moment, but Donovan noted that it will take years to recover.

Race registration date change: Boilermaker spots open early

Due to the smaller race capacity, race officials are moving their registration date from early March to early January.

Priority registration kicks off Monday, Jan. 9, at 10 a.m. Unlike years past, priority is available to anyone who ran in 2022, not just runners who finished. It closes Tuesday, Jan. 31, at 11:59 p.m.

General registration begins the next day at 10 a.m. and remains open until July 4, unless capacity is hit beforehand.

The walk is capped at 1,000 people and registration for that launches Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 10 a.m.

Runners can register at boilermaker.com once it opens.

Donovan remarked that the change also gives race officials more time to buy supplies and prepare.

“We don’t know how many people would come to the party, but we had to buy all the supplies,” Donovan said.

Despite all these challenges, Donovan still said the Boilermaker is in a good place compared to other road races.

“Our community supports this event at levels that other races and other communities marvel at and are jealous of,” Donovan said.

Noah Ram is a sports reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email Noah Ram at nram@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Utica Boilermaker changes coming in 2023: What to know