It wasn’t until her mother finished her first half marathon shortly after undergoing radiation for breast cancer that Tamara Daniels found the motivation to run a marathon.

“I’ve never thought of myself as a long distance runner. But she inspired me to do it,” said the 26-year-old assistant district attorney after a 10-mile run in New York’s Central Park.

This past summer, Daniels, an avid runner of smaller distances, signed up for a running class sponsored by the New York Road Runners Club Inc. with fellow jogger Kim Pallen, 23. The two met while running a 5K corporate challenge – Pallen was an intern at Daniels’ office.

They are now almost halfway into training for the ING Miami Marathon in January, the first marathon for both. After the event, the two want to celebrate with a cruise out of Miami.

Runners like Daniels, her mother and Pallen are fueling a second major running boom. The first boom occurred in the 1970s after American Frank Shorter’s gold medal in the 1972 Olympic marathon inspired Americans off their feet to attempt the 26.2-mile race.

Now, more runners are lacing up their sneakers at the starting lines of longer races. Cities and retailers hope to benefit from the renewed interest by turning local marathons into running festivals to attract tourist dollars and show off their communities.

The Road Running Information Center reported that half marathon finishers rose 7 percent in 2004 from the previous year and marathon finishers followed with a 6 percent gain.

Well-known races like the Chicago and New York City Marathons have capped their registrations to avoid overflow. The New York City Marathon expects 37,000 runners to participate in this year’s race Nov. 5.

Participants in second tier races in Miami, Portland and Detroit have also skyrocketed as more runners are shut out of big time races and new faces enter the field.

The race is on

Tamara Daniels, left, and Kim Pallen stretch prior to a run in Central Park in New York. Daniels' mother finished her first half marathon shortly after undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer, motivating Daniels to run a marathon.

More cities are jumping in the race. The number of marathons nationwide has grown steadily in the last five years, according to MarathonGuide.com., from 272 events in 2001 to 359 scheduled marathons for 2006.

Most marathons are started by local running clubs with the economic and logistical support from the host cities. But in some cases, cities initiate the formation of their own marathons and bring in outside event management companies to organize the event and find sponsors.

“We’re seeing a lot of smaller and mid-size cities putting more effort into their races to bring more people and money into their cities,” said Jean Knaack, executive director of Road Runners Club of America. “Marathons seem to have its own niche tourism market. They get a lot of out-of-towners.”

In its second year, the Fargo Marathon in North Dakota saw its registration jump from 2,400 runners in all of its events – marathon, 5K, half marathon, relay and kid’s race – to 6,000 this year. The event drew runners from 46 different states and three countries.

“This is an opportunity for people to see what our community has to offer,” said Bryan Schultz, director of sports sales for the Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Now we’re seeing local businesses getting on board, wanting to sponsor the event because they see a great opportunity to showcase their business and the community.”

Big money at stake

Schultz estimates the economic impact of the race to be about $1.5 million. Other marathons can bring in more. Depending on the size of the marathon and the city, the impact varies widely from a few million dollars to tens of millions of dollars.

For example, the 2005 Honolulu Marathon injected more than $100 million into the local economy, according to a Hawaii Pacific University study, putting it second to only the ING New York Marathon. Much of the money came from Japanese marathoners who spent on average $240 per day, the study said.

To increase their appeal, organizers of marathons are adding a variety of races to the agenda to create a running festival. Since even the most serious runners average only two marathons a year, shorter races like half marathons, 5Ks and 10Ks can attract racers in between marathon training.

Kevan Huston of San Francisco usually runs two marathons a year and has raced in some of the country’s largest. But when he’s not training, Huston also enjoys running smaller races and marathon relays with his running club.

“If there’s ever a team element to a race competition, we get 10 to 15 guys together and go to the race wearing our running club t-shirts,” said the 34-year-old researcher. “It’s a very powerful way of creating an extended community.”

Shorter races also appeal to novice runners who may be traveling with an experienced marathoner. These less intimidating races allow spouses, partners, children and older parents get involved in the festivities too.

“We saw a family of seven from Winnipeg, Canada come in and each family member ran in a different race,” Schultz said. “We’re hoping the kids’ race will go up to 5,000 and be the biggest kids’ race in the world.”

Sponsors lining up

Marathon events are also packaging themselves as health and lifestyle events by hosting fitness and running expositions before race day. This kind of marketing is bringing in all types of sponsors.

“More and more sponsors want to associate themselves with health and fitness events,” said Bill Burke, a race organizer for Premier Event Management LLC. “We’re seeing an increase in sponsor participation. We’re getting car companies, beverage companies, and power companies involved.”

Running for Your Life, a small franchise of running stores in Charlotte, N.C., resurrected the local marathon, which was canceled in 2003 because of misappropriation of funds. Renamed the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon, an homage to the city’s stock car history, it drew nearly 2,000 runners last year and is on target to reach 4,000 this year. The stores also host 25 other race events during the year.

“The event business and retail business is synergistic. The more energy we can create around the event, the more people identify with the store,” said Tim Rhodes, president of Event Marketing Services which owns the stores. “Our store reputation lives and dies by how we do at the race events.”