Local businesses hope this weekend?s Baltimore Running Festival and Baltimore Marathon will again run up their receipts.
The festival, in its seventh year, generates about $15 million annually for the city, according to Lee Corrigan, executive director of the race. Corrigan cited a study conducted by the Sage Policy Group that included profits for hotels, restaurants and downtown retailers.
The marathon has grown by about 20 to 25 percent every year, but runners? word of mouth has begun drawing out-of-state participants, Corrigan said. One in four of the inaugural marathon?s runners was from another state, but now 40 percent of participants make the trip from other areas.
“As the event?s grown, it?s grown in popularity,” he said. “Word spread around the running community, and more people make the trip from out of town.”
The marathon partnered with five local hotels, the Holiday Inn, the Renaissance Harborplace, Days Inn, Hampton Inn and Sheraton City Center, to provide nearly 1,000 rooms for runners. Corrigan said the Holiday Inn and Renaissance blocks had sold out, and the others were selling well.
The marathon?s Saturday morning start might boost hotel bookings, said Tom Noonan, president and CEO of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association.
“You have a high likelihood that people run this on Saturday, and then stay for the whole weekend,” he said. “The reality is if you?re getting to the starting line at 6 a.m., you?ve got to stay somewhere [local] the night before.”
After the race, he said, many participants are eager to celebrate their accomplishment at local businesses.
“They?re really diligent about training, so when they?re done with this marathon it?s a chance to break out, have a few drinks, go shopping,” he said.
The marathon pulls in runners not just from other states but other countries, and showcases Baltimore?s emerging corporate community as well as its resurgent neighborhoods, said Christian Johansson, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore.
“An event like this really helps to put Baltimore on the map,” he said. “It?s not just about coming to Baltimore, it?s about running through our town, running through the areas that are going through this renaissance.”
The Baltimore Marathon?s economic impact on the city
(Numbers based on 2006 event)
» Visitors to Baltimore: 33,290
» Total contribution to economy: $14.8 million
» Contribution to nightlife: $3.6 million
» Contribution to hotels: $3.1 million
» Contribution to restaurants: $3.1 million
» Contribution to transportation: $2.5 million
» Contribution to retail and shopping: $2.2 million
Source: Regional Economic Studies Institute, Towson University
