SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The long-awaited weekend for Ironman California is here and the event is bringing thousands of athletes to Sacramento.
It will be the third busiest weekend in the city this month and the economic impact is expected to be significant.
The race will start near Discovery Park with swimming, then biking and ends with a marathon leading to Capitol Mall.
But before and after the race, businesses are hoping to reap the benefits of all the visitors ready to explore new places."
Those businesses include Mike's Bike in Sacramento, that preparing for yet another busy weekend.
Ironman California athletes are coming from all around the world with some of them arriving in the city days in advance.
"We open at 10 and so seeing a line of people already at the door. In most cases that are either here to drop bikes off for service that they've already scheduled or just looking to get immediate service. It's a good influx of people from probably about 10 to 11:30," said Peter Gravel, who is the General Manager at Mike's Bikes in Sacramento.
Visit Sacramento says more than three thousand athletes, with their families and friends, are expected for the race on Sunday.
Dave Eadie, the chief of Sports and Entertainment Officer at Visit Sacramento says in just a few short years it's become one of the largest full-distance Ironmans in North America.
Alone it brings in upwards of $15 million in economic impact.
"October's been a busy month for Sacramento. Aftershock Festival, Golden Sky Festival and now Ironman. All those three events combined we're estimating an economic impact to the region of nearly 60-million dollars. So you know that's everyone traveling in, staying in our hotels, eating at our restaurants, and supporting our local economy and small businesses," said Eadie.
But some small businesses say they didn't do as well as they thought they would during Aftershock and Golden Sky.
So they're encouraging visitors and locals to think of them.
"I know the events are really big and I know they're really long. You know, they start from the morning all the way to the afternoon type of thing so I know it's definitely a task for them to maybe explore the city of Sacramento. But there's lots of good options available for food. Especially here on Northgate which is a very close proximity to Discovery Park," said Marco Rodriguez, who is the co-owner of Algo Bueno.
Businesses are now banking on leaving a lasting impression, so they'll see visitors return.
"A lot of it, is just this influx of riders that we're not familiar with, or that may not be familiar with us, so it's kind of this open possibility where we can introduce ourselves to new riders and get people familiar with us," said Gravel.
There will be a lot of road closures so you'll want to prepare yourself before heading out if you plan to travel anywhere near the race.
WATCH MORE ON ABC10 | Ironman California to take over Sacramento on Sunday
