Virginia Beach, Va. - Thousands of people laced up their sneakers for the last day of the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend along the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Even runners who had no idea what was going on.
“I saw a bunch of people running in a circle wearing green and I was like ‘well what are they doing?’,” Alex Gordon, who is visiting the area, said. “So I went down there and I ran a little lap and realized it was for St. Patrick’s Day.”
The marathon kicked off on Friday.
Organizers say more than 30,000 people from across the country donned themselves in green and hit the ground running. Some taking park in five separate races.
“Really hurt my legs doing a lap. I don’t know how they were doing ten of them. I met a lot of different people that ran it today and yesterday. Really good people," Gordon said.
The marathon wasn’t just a success for the runners, many of whom said they’ve been training for the past few month. Many local restaurants, hotels, and stores says they saw an economic boost.”
“Marathon is great,” Yanislav Hristov, the manager of Atlantic Beachwear, said. “It’s bringing more people to the city. Bringing more business, better for us, bringing more business to us.”
Hristov says they had their biggest rush earlier in the day around 10:30. Now as things gets back to normal, area businesses and runners are gearing up for next year’s race.
