Thirsty runners grab 700 to 800 gallons of water from Rotary volunteers.
Utica Rotary volunteers provided a water station for runners in 15K Boilermaker Road Race on Sunday, July 9. A total of 8,500 runners participated in the 15K race.
Once again stationed in front of Parkway Center, which was around the five-mile mark of the race, Rotarians and friends handed out water and ice. But they began their work at 6 a.m., noted Rotarian coordinator Drew Deblasiis, setting up tables, getting bags of ice, and filling up cups of water.
The Daily Sentinel featured Utica Rotary’s water effort, noting that “hundreds of abandoned water cups, tossed away by Boilermaker runners, lined the sides of the Memorial Parkway.”
"Honestly, we had 700 to 800 gallons of water that we filled up," Drew told the Sentinel reporter. "It’s nice to get out and help the community out and see all the racers. It’s pretty cool."
He thanked the City of Utica for its help in cleaning up all of the abandoned cups.