UTICA – The roads are back open and the cleaning process has begun.

And Monday, the only way you’ll be able to tell 12,000 runners made their way through Utica is a few empty water bottles and racing bibs.

But the memories will last forever.

“It’s just so great by the time the fly overs happen I've already made up my mind to register for next year,” said Mary Wenck.

“It’s a fun atmosphere, said Dillon Buckley, a runner. “It was kind of hard but I'd like to come back and do it again…it’s great afterwards…it’s really fun.”

Each runner who enters the race comes in with their own personal goals, such as Catherine Coon who was happy to have beaten her brother’s time by 8 minutes.

“My track coach and on all the girls on my track team have done it and I wanted to see how I would do against them,” she said.”

Most agreed there is one important ingredient to getting through the grueling nine miles…besides the brew at the end of the race.

“It's the fans and the families that come out and support us…you've got the bands all along the way that just keep you pumped up,” said Sheridan Mish, a runner. “The whole neighborhood thing makes it distinctive. I've never run in front of that many people before there's a lot of screaming.”

The Boilermaker is an event because so many want to participate. For those who didn’t get a chance to this year, there’s always next year.