Observer-Dispatch
UTICA —
After winning the women's wheelchair division of
the 15K Utica Boilermaker Road Race, Jacqui
Kapinowski had Band-Aids wrapped around most of
her fingers.
Her brakes would've made her chair slide on the wet course, so she had to grab her wheels with her bare hands to slow up.
Still, having won her first Boilermaker, she said she was motivated by the crowd.
“I cannot believe how the community comes out for this race,” she said. “There were people cheering me on through the whole thing, they were yelling my name. I don't even know how they knew my name but they were yelling 'go Jacquie.' It was great.”
Men's wheelchair division winner Krige Schabort notched his second-straight Boilermaker crown. Schabort, from South Africa, agreed that early on, the wet course was a challenge for the wheelchair participants.
“It's tricky coming down the hills,” Schabort said. “The spray of the water slows you down a bit, too.”
Schabort also said he continues to be impressed by the support the race gets. He has won three Boilermakers in five starts.
Ironically, he considers the hardest part of the race the reason he's been so successful.
He said navigating hills is one of his strong suits and said he'd probably lose if it was a flat course.
For those reasons, Schabort remembers the Boilermaker course for its terrain.
“It's the climb,” Schabort said. “You have to go uphill a lot and its tricky coming down too. The climb makes it unique.”
Wheelchair division record holder Saul Mendoza finished in second and Tony Nogueira of Glen Ridge, N.J., finished third for the men. The top local men's finisher was Utica's Hermin Garic, who finished 11th.
Ellie O'Neill finished second and Holly Koester finished third on the women's side.
Her brakes would've made her chair slide on the wet course, so she had to grab her wheels with her bare hands to slow up.
Still, having won her first Boilermaker, she said she was motivated by the crowd.
“I cannot believe how the community comes out for this race,” she said. “There were people cheering me on through the whole thing, they were yelling my name. I don't even know how they knew my name but they were yelling 'go Jacquie.' It was great.”
Men's wheelchair division winner Krige Schabort notched his second-straight Boilermaker crown. Schabort, from South Africa, agreed that early on, the wet course was a challenge for the wheelchair participants.
“It's tricky coming down the hills,” Schabort said. “The spray of the water slows you down a bit, too.”
Schabort also said he continues to be impressed by the support the race gets. He has won three Boilermakers in five starts.
Ironically, he considers the hardest part of the race the reason he's been so successful.
He said navigating hills is one of his strong suits and said he'd probably lose if it was a flat course.
For those reasons, Schabort remembers the Boilermaker course for its terrain.
“It's the climb,” Schabort said. “You have to go uphill a lot and its tricky coming down too. The climb makes it unique.”
Wheelchair division record holder Saul Mendoza finished in second and Tony Nogueira of Glen Ridge, N.J., finished third for the men. The top local men's finisher was Utica's Hermin Garic, who finished 11th.
Ellie O'Neill finished second and Holly Koester finished third on the women's side.