Are Beaufort and Port Royal missing out on big tourist dollars with no mega race?

Flickr user I Run Flint
Running with pockets full of dollars.

On Saturday, Savannah was host to a Rock N Roll Marathon where some 23,000 runners came out and an estimated 100,000 people came into town.

As you might expect, local tourism business is abuzz about how good this was for filling up hotel rooms, dinning rooms, and gift shops.

WSAV reports:

"We opened our doors at 11 a.m. and as soon as we did, it was packed because there were runners everywhere. Twenty thousand people and their friends and family, it was a lot of people. We were running out of dough and were pulling it all day long."

The crowds are giving St. Patrick's Day a run for its money, and many businesses say that next year, the planning is going to be a lot different.

Downtown Beaufort is host to plenty of 5K runs and even a cycling competition (that's under threat of cancelation) — but this bit of news makes you wonder what could be had if Beaufort hosted a more populous longer-distance run through Beautiful Beaufort by the Bay.

Perhaps one from downtown Port Royal and over the new and old bridges to downtown Beaufort's newly enhanced Bladen Street?