Just Over A Week 'Til the Boilermaker

I'm ten days away from the most highly anticipated run yet - The Boilermaker 15K.

The Boilermaker is held in Utica, NY. It is known as one of the best 15K's in the country and will have close to 15,000 people competing in it. From what I understand, the entire city shuts down for this race and has the best post-race party for any race this side of the Mississippi.

According to the website, there are over 20 water stations. Bands, DJ's and bagpipers are playing throughout the run. Thousands of volunteers help out along the way and the race ends at the Saranac Brewery with concerts, fireworks and loads of food and drink.



This race is not only fun, but appears to be rather tough. The elevations bring you up over 400 feet in the first few miles, but is relatively downhill for the last half of the 9.3 mile run.




To say that I'm excited for this race is an understatement. This is the first race that I'm gonna try and shoot for a specific time in. I'd like to finish in less then 1:30:00. This will be about a 9:30/mile pace. Despite all the stations, I'm hoping to only water up at each 5K. I think this could save me at least five or six minutes in time and will allow me to get into a comfortable pace without starting and stopping every ten minutes.

I'm not only excited about the race, but the entire weekend. I'm gonna stay in Saratoga Springs on Friday and Saturday night and probably for Sunday night after the race. Saratoga is one of the coolest towns I've ever been and has hundreds of restaurants, bars, golf courses and attractions. The peak time to visit Saratoga is from the last week of July through Labor Day when the Thoroughbred meet is going on, but it is a fun place to visit any time of year.