Local businesses gear up for weekend marathon.

Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard

Hotels around town are booked, restaurants will be at full staff and a variety of retailers, from convenience stores to the counterculture Saturday Market, are gearing up for the thousands of runners and spectators who will descend on Eugene next weekend.

"The marathon we expect to be just wonderful for the market," says Beth Little, general manager of Eugene's 37-year-old Saturday Market. "We're a living legacy, so for some folks from out of town, they've never seen anything like it."

The upcoming marathon weekend will be a precursor - albeit on a much smaller scale - of what the city can expect next year when it hosts the U.S. Olympic Trials for track and field.

The Convention & Visitors Association of Lane County Oregon projects that out-of-towners running in next Sunday's marathon and three accompanying races will pump at least $350,000 dollars into the local economy. That's a conservative estimate that doesn't count spending by their traveling companions or other spectators coming to town for the races.

"This is very similar to the big home football weekends, and it's a fabulous thing ... to see a marathon bring in that many people," says Jody Hall, general manager of the 274-room Hilton Eugene and Conference Center located downtown.

"We're sold out and, to the best of my knowledge, everyone else is sold out," says George Rogers, general manager of the Valley River Inn, which has booked its 269 rooms near Valley River Center.

"The impact is bigger than I think anybody anticipated."

And, if the marathon turns into an annual event, "this could be the beginning of something tremendous for the area," Rogers says. "With Eugene's history and reputation (in track and field), we think it could become one of the bigger marathons in the region."

Marathon mania

The homegrown event has registered 4,500 runners for the marathon, half-marathon, 5K and kids' one-mile run next Sunday. About a third of them are from out of town, representing 44 states and eight countries, race Director Richard Maher said.

"That's a great number to have just out of the gate," says Ryan Lamppa, researcher with Running USA, a trade group based in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Thousands of those visitors are expected to open their wallets at the Health & Fitness Expo at the Hilton on Friday and Saturday. Local vendors, such as Aquarius Water, Healing Spirit Body Therapies, Eugene Running Co., and SportHill, which designed the Eugene marathon logo sportswear, will sell their wares and services.

SportHill produced the shirts for marathoners and half-marathoners and will sell hoodies, T-shirts and long-sleeved shirts with the logo.

"Most races use these cheap cotton T-shirts and (runners) have drawers full of them," owner Jim Hill says. SportHill is providing a high-quality, technical shirt made of quick-wicking and fast-drying polyester, he says.

Healing Spirit Body Therapies, another race sponsor, will offer massages at the expo and the medical tent on race day.

"I'm hoping to get our hands on a lot of runners," says owner Carma Douglas, who is a registered nurse and licensed massage therapist.

All those extra bodies in Eugene will also be looking to feed and entertain themselves throughout the weekend.

Restaurants and other local retailers are gearing up for the onslaught.

"We always keep track of road races, especially ones that come around Alton Baker Park, says Beth Nitkowski, a manager at McMenamin's North Bank, which offers views of the Willamette River and, on Sunday, views of the marathon course.

Nearby, at Valley River Inn, manager Rogers says there hasn't been an increase in reservations for Sunday brunch at Sweetwaters, the inn's restaurant. But he says the inn will market its prime location for marathon watching.

Big spenders

Demographics on marathoners are hard to come by because it's a relatively small group. Just over 400,000 people crossed the finish line of marathons last year in the United States, compared with more than 3 million finishers of 5K races, says Lamppa, of Running USA.

But the nation's 12.4 million "frequent" runners - who ran at least 100 days in the past year - have an average income of $79,000, according to a January survey by American Sports Data Inc.

Runners' incomes are comparable to those of golfers - a fact that surprises those outside the running world, Lamppa says.

Marathoners, as a group, have slightly higher incomes than general runners. Lamppa says he figures that's because the average marathoner is slightly older than the average runner, boosting his or her earning power. Plus, marathon men and women tend to be high achievers, which may translate into higher-income careers, Lamppa says.

The mere act of training for a marathon takes time and money. Owners of local running supply stores say they've seen a surge in business this year.

Kit Sundling, co-owner of The Step Beyond in south Eugene, estimates that marathon-related sales have boosted her store's overall sales by 20 percent or 30 percent since the start of the year.

"More people are needing shoes earlier than they otherwise would," she says.

Run Pro, near the Fifth Street Public Market, which specializes in expert fitting and injury prevention, saw more customers with injuries in January and February than usual, probably because more people were training for the marathon, co-owner Gene Solomon says.

And Eugene Running Co., a marathon sponsor with a store at Oakway Center, has nearly sold out of its "Eugene marathon in-training" clothing, co-owner Bob Coll says.

The retailer, which supports three marathon training teams, has seen a dramatic spike in sales of shoes, clothing and nutritional products since November, Coll says.

"Without fail, on Fridays we sell a lot of Gu (energy gel packets) and a lot of Gleukos, which is the sports beverage that they're serving on the (marathon) course," he says.

"It's everyone getting ready for their long race on Saturday or Sunday."

The two-year-old business turned its first major profit six months ago, Coll says.

The marathon weekend also may pay dividends later.

"If someone comes and discovers there are great restaurants and other things to do (in Eugene) ... their curiosity will be stimulated, and they'll want to come back," says Lynn Kahle, a sports marketing professor at the University of Oregon.

"When the '08 Olympic Trials take place, they'll be especially eager to come back."