For the second straight year, the annual Boilermaker road race in Utica, New York has been postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Like its predecessor, the 44th Boilermaker has been moved from the second Sunday in July to the fall — this time to October 10, 2021. Race President Mark Donovan says he’s optimistic the new COVID-19 vaccines will allow the 15K and 5K to occur in person, but there’s no telling whether conditions will improve by the summer.
“We wanted to give the Boilermaker the best possible opportunity to be held in person, on a meaningful scale, and safely," Donovan explains.
Donovan says many details — including registration — remain up in the air, until organizers have a better idea of any COVID-19 protocols or capacity limits that may need to be in place. Donovan says first dibs on registration will go to the over 5,000 runners who participated in this year’s virtual event, as well as another 5,000 who chose to roll over their registration to 2021.
"Should we be allowed to proceed, but at a smaller capacity, in October, these two groups of folks alone could possibly fill our race caps," adds Donovan.
One thing is known: the race will not host its elite running or wheelchair divisions next year. Donovan says they will return in 2022, when the Boilermaker is set to host the PRRO Circuit Championship Race.
