Come for the marathon, stay for the holiday: International runners boost lagging attendance at events

Thousands of runners will hit Vancouver's streets, parks and seawall for the BMOMarathon this Sunday, and among them will be a record number of people from abroad.

Race director Eric Chenesays the international participants are part of a growing trend the Vancouver marathon is taking advantage of amateur runners who travel the world to participate in events like his, and make a holiday of it.

"Our vision as a not-for-profit is to be one of the top destination marathons in the world," Chene said over the phone from abusy warehouse in East Vancouver on Thursday, where volunteers were getting ready for the weekend.

According to the Vancouver marathon's website, the number of international runnershas grown by 25 per cent in the past two years. Most of them take part in the marathon, and not the event's shorter races like the half marathon or the 8K.

Travel with a purpose

Chene said hisevent is nowhere near the same level as the six majors Boston, New York, Tokyo, London, Berlin and Chicago, which each attract up to 40,000 of the world's most elite marathoners.

The Vancouver marathon only draws about 5,500 marathoners, and a total of more than 17,000 runners for all races.Butwhat Vancouver and other destination marathons have to offer, Chene said, is a unique experience for amateur runners who prefer to make a holiday out of the run.

"People like to travel with a purpose," he said. "They'll build their travel right around our weekend."

Chene says the beauty of the Vancouver course, which starts at Queen Elizabeth Park and meanders through the University of British ColumbiaEndowment Lands to make its way along the city's famedseaside seawall, is a huge draw, as is the fact that it's one-way.

Those aspects have landed the Vancouver marathon on the top-10 race lists of media organizations like Forbes and CNN. And Chene said the region also offers travellers other sought-after destinations like Whistler and Victoria.

Branding the #runcation

The increase of international running travelhas also been noted at marathons across the U.S.

Rich Harshbarger with Running USA, an association that promotes long-distance running events in America,says it first popped up asthe social media hashtag#runcation.

"We've begun to see quite a few events begin to market themselves using that hashtag,"Harshbargersaid.

One reason for the marketing push in the U.S. and Canada is that participation in the sport of running plateauedthere a few years ago, Harshbarger said, but continues to grow in markets like China, Mexico and Brazil.

Economic impact

For marathons like Vancouver's, growing attendance is about more than prestigeit's also about money.

Chene said research shows that most of the international runners who come to Vancouver travel with friends or family and stay for a few days, creating a$55.75 millioneconomic impact in the province.

That's a number that has caught the eye of government officials. Last year the province supported the event with $168,000 in funding.

And Chene said the marathon also gets moneyfrom travel industry-led Crown corporation Destination B.C. to support its marketing activities.