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Loss Of Pelotonia Won’t Have Much Economic Impact On Athens
By: Sara Vallone
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The head of the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau says the end of Pelotonia in Athens isn't going to be that hard on the region economically.
Pelotonia is an annual cancer charity bike ride that starts in Columbus and used to end at Ohio University.
But, Pelotonia officials announced that this year's event will end in central Ohio at Kenyon College.
Convention and Visitor's Bureau Executive Director Paige Alost says OU had a three year contract with Pelotonia that ended last year.
Alost says even though the event brought tourists to Athens, most of the money attached to those tourists went directly to the University.
"That's really hard to gauge because it was self contained on the university campus. We did see some of the cyclists who stayed in hotel rooms but certainly not to the degree of those that stayed on the campus. And certainly it created some impact on the community but I don't think in the huge way you would expect those to be," says Alost.
Pelotonia has made more than $25 million for cancer research since the first bike ride in 2009.