UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - With just 67 days until the Boilermaker, organizers are reaching out to the community in hopes volunteers will lend a hand in a new beautification project.

Preparing for 17,000 runners is not an easy task, but getting ready involves so much more than training. July 10th company is coming to Utica and everyone knows when you invite someone to your house, you want it to look it's best... so you have to clean up. That's the analogy the Executive Director for the Boilermaker, Tim Reed, used when taking about a new Boilermaker beautification project.

On Saturday June 18th from 8am to 12pm, Reed is inviting everyone out to clean up their yards, and join in projects along the race route because you never know where the runners may be visiting. Reed is also looking for participation from garden stores to possibly donate flowers or what they can to make sure Utica puts it's best foot forward when thousands descend on the city for the race.

"This is an opportunity for all of us to take a little responsibility for our community and make it look the best way it possibly can. We are excited about it and we are going to be reaching out to all of the different civic organizations. We've spoken to the city and just a little bit of painting, sprucing up, planting flowers, will be really exciting. We are going to take some before and after pictures so we are excited to see the stuff we can do as a community," says Reed.

Reed hopes the sense of pride the Boilermaker instills in residents will cause them to keep their communities in tip-top shape all year long.

If you want to participate in the "Company is Coming" clean up on June 18th, you can find contact the National Long Distance Running Hall of Fame here: http://www.distancerunning.com/links/index.html