UTICA — Organizers of the annual Boilermaker road race in Utica are looking forward to a virtual event that they’re planning for September after canceling this year’s race due to safety concerns related to COVID-19.

The Boilermaker 15K race attracts up to nearly 20,000 runners per year and is one of the largest such races in the nation. This year’s race was initially slated for July 12 before organizers in April decided to postpone it to Sept. 13 amid the building coronavirus crisis. On June 16, they decided to pull the plug on the race and instead encourage runners to run their own race in September and report their times to officials in what they’re calling a virtual race.

The Boilermaker organization says it is a nonprofit that relies on its 15K and 5K running events for its funding. 

“The inability to host the traditional Boilermaker severely impacts the financial health of the organization,” the organization said on its website. It made a plea to race registrants to participate in the virtual Boilermaker event or to donate their 2020 race registration fee “to help secure the Boilermaker’s future.”

“Your decision whether or not to participate in this historic virtual version of the Boilermaker will directly influence the organization’s ability to continue to exist and stage traditional Boilermakers in the years to come,” it said.

The Boilermaker road race has been Oneida County’s “signature event” for more than 40 years and it’s “hard to imagine” a summer without thousands of people “flooding the region from across the globe to participate and celebrate,” Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, Jr. said in a statement June 16. 

“Unfortunately, the very thing that makes it so special, now poses a threat to the health and safety of our community in light of this pandemic. Not only does its loss deal a blow to the spirit of our community, but it also takes an immense toll on the local economy. I’m glad that it will still carry on in a virtual form, and look forward to the day when it will return as a live event, bigger and better than ever,” Picente said. 

Options for virtual event

The Boilermaker website includes details and a question-and-answer section on the virtual event and how to get involved or decline involvement.

Participants will run their own 15K or 5K race at their discretion (time & location) between Sept. 1 and Sept. 13 and report their time back to the Boilermaker no later than noon on Sept. 13 via their RunSignUp account.

Those who were already registered to participate in the 2020 Boilermaker will remain as registered participants entered in the 2020 Virtual Boilermaker unless they opt out. Organizers note that the window of time to decide to make a change under the available options expires at 12 p.m. on June 30. 

Those who do not want to participate have a few options to choose from for their registration fee. They can either receive a refund of their registration fee (minus a small processing fee); accept a complimentary rollover of their registration fee to the 2021 Boilermaker road race; or they can donate their registration fee.