Record interest means multi-million dollar shot in the arm for Houston.

Even in cloudy times, Houston's economy is getting a boost thanks to the Chevron Houston Marathon set for Sunday January 18th.

"We have over 18,000 runners in the marathon and half-marathon that will contribute up to $30 million to Houston's economy over their six months of training," said Chevron Houston marathon Managing Director Steve Karpas. That revenue comes from hotel rooms, apparel, and other training necessities the runners pick up along the way.

Meanwhile, Karpas said this year's event has drawn some record-setting interest.

"18-thousand runners sold out our race five-months ago-and we had eight-thousand on a wait list waiting to get in. I would say our future looks pretty good," Karpas said.

So how do the numbers break down?

"On average, it's close to 200-dollars each runner spends per day. Now, if they bring a family member, it doubles. By the end of it, it's close to 30-million dollars of economic impact," Karpas said.
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