THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Businesses in running for windfall from event Comparing the races By the numbers
May 17, 2008 12:15 am

By PAMELA GOULD

Runners and spectators at the 31st Marine Corps Marathon in 2006 spent $31.7 million on food, lodging, souvenirs and other expenses, generating nearly $2.3 million in tax revenue during the annual event in Arlington and Washington.

While organizers and Fredericksburg-area officials don't expect to see that magnitude of impact from the inaugural running of the Marine Corps Historic Half marathon in Fredericksburg, they do expect tomorrow's race and this weekend's associated activities to provide an economic boost to the area.

"The whole region will benefit from this," said Fredericksburg economic development director Kevin Gullette. "I think everybody's going to feel the spillover."

Runners have booked 600 hotel rooms--half of them for two nights--in the city and in Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, according to Brian Schend, director of corporate operations for Chicago-based Travel Technology Group, which handled online booking for race participants.

And with marathon runners' parties averaging three to four people, organizers estimate this race could bring as many as 24,000 people to the city.

To take full advantage of the throng, events have been planned to showcase both the historic downtown area of Fredericksburg and to draw them to the retail mecca of Central Park and the adjoining tourism development of Celebrate Virginia.

Arts and music are planned for downtown while the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center in Celebrate Virginia is serving as the hub for the half marathon.

The Expo center marks the starting point and finish line for the 13.1-mile race. It also plays host to the two-day Healthy Lifestyle Expo, where 50 vendors will be on hand, and tonight's carbohydrate-loading event, a pasta dinner open to 500 people that features Vienna, Va., native Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Mara-thon.

Expo owner Tom Ballantine and local economic development directors are excited about the spotlight the event is shining on the region and envision its impact extending well beyond one weekend.

"We're obviously extremely pleased and proud to host such a high-profile event," Ballantine said. "It's just great exposure for everybody."

In addition to local coverage, the race was publicized in Runner's World magazine, at expos for other running events, in local running magazines, on the Marine Corps Marathon Web site, and in the marathon's newsletter, which is distributed worldwide. It was also featured in Travelhost, a travel magazine placed in local hotels.

As a result, some 6,000 runners from across the nation and from six other countries are registered to participate.

"We wouldn't have the funds to do the advertising this will bring," Gullette said.

MEASURING THE IMPACT

Fredericksburg officials have no hard-and-fast figure but expect $3 million to $4 million in direct impact from the Historic Half, Gullette said.

But neither he nor Stafford or Spotsylvania economic development officials have a firm grip on how to measure the impact.

Each plans to gather data on hotel occupancy rates and meals-tax revenues after this weekend, but it is Marine Corps Marathon officials who have undertaken to produce a formal assessment.

University of Mary Washington economics professor Robert S. Rycroft has been asked to conduct a formal study of the economic impact of the race.

Rycroft said three or four undergraduate students in a research class will be surveying people at the Expo center today and tomorrow.

Their efforts will be modeled after studies of the impact of the full marathon conducted by students at George Washington University's International Institute of Tourism Studies.

The UMW students will be talking to runners, vendors and spectators and asking about the number of nights they plan to stay here, how they traveled to the area, whether they've been to the area before and how much they expect to spend on dining, lodging, shopping and tourism.

They will also be asking for information on income levels and whether people are affiliated with the military.

Rycroft said marathon officials have asked to have the results compiled by Aug. 1.

He declined to offer any prediction on the financial impact the half marathon could have on the region, saying the data generated by a study of the full marathon can't readily be translated into this race.

He noted this is the first time for this event, it's a new location and, though it has the Marine Corps Mara-thon's reputation behind it, it isn't yet nationally known.

ROOMS AND RUNNERS

Twelve hotels in the region--five each in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County, and two in Stafford County--were featured for online booking as part of the Marine Corps Historic Half.

Of 720 rooms blocked for participants, 600 were sold for a total of 900 room nights as of Wednesday, TTG's Schend said.

The original field of 5,000 runners was reached within 12 days of the opening of online registration on Nov. 1, according to Marine Corps Marathon business manager Angela Huff.

Registration was reopened in March because of demand and after determining the course could accommodate another 1,000 runners.

"We just had so much interest from military personnel that had been overseas," Huff said. "They're back and they begged us, so we drove the course again and found we can support another group."

The goal had always been to increase the field of runners after the inaugural event, doubling the number next year, Huff said.

"We hope to grow. That's the goal," Huff said.

She and city officials have discussed making this an annual event, setting the date for the same weekend for the next five years.

Regional tourism and economic development officials won't argue with that.

Rachel DeLooze, Spotsylvania's tourism marketing coordinator, envisions visitors getting a glimpse of what the region offers during this trip, serving to whet their appetite for more.

That, she and her counterparts in the region hope, will encourage them to schedule a separate trip here or plan to stay additional days when they return for the next Historic Half.

"We hope they will want to come back, having not seen it all this trip," she said.
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Marine Corps Historic Half preliminary numbers

Hotel rooms booked through Marine Corps Historic Half Web site: 600 rooms, 900 room nights

Runners from foreign countries: 25*

Runners from outside Virginia: 2,011*

Runners from outside Fredericksburg region: 3,957 of the first 5,000 registered

Number of expo vendors: approximately 50

*Data as of May 12, 2008

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