Butler Park.

In it you’ll find Boilermaker Square — a place with bricks marked with supportive messages and names of runners. Among those names is Larry DiCesare.

“Once you get going, you can’t stop. I can’t quit now,” DiCesare said.

He said his start with the Boilermaker Road Race was a right-place right-time type of situation. DiCesare went to a party, Boilermaker organizers were there, the race was about a month away and he was invited to run.

“I went and I got hooked. I came home thinking, ‘this is gonna be something really, really big someday.' It was big then, not like it is now,” DiCesaro said.

Initially, the race was a little intimidating for him as he focused on his times, but not anymore.

“It was always based on time, how fast could we go, how much better could we do every year. Now, it’s fun. If I saw you on the course, I would stop and give you a hug. I would take a photo with you. I never did that before. Forty-five years ago, I couldn’t waste a second,” said DiCesaro.

The Boilermaker has led to a lot of fun traditions and things to look forward to for DiCesare. But after 45 years, some of the traditions are now special memories.

“I know I used to see so-and-so here, I used to see so-and-so here. They would make a sign for me. They would be cheering for me here. They’re not here anymore for whatever reason, so it can be very emotional because you think about the changes that have happened in your life, but then on a high note, you’ve got this thing of consistency in your life that your continue to do every year and look forward to, so it brings back those memories kind of in a happy way too,” said DiCesaro.

DiCesare’s advice to other runners is to be safe, finish and have fun.

DiCesare said he plans on continuing to run the 15K as long as he can. He is one of only eight perennial Boilermaker runners.