Running News Daily

With no Boston Marathon on Patriots' Day 2021, there was a different feel

For the second year in a row, businesses in Boston had a much different experience on Patriots' Day without the Boston Marathon being run.

Last October, the Boston Athletic Association made the decision to postpone the 2021 Boston Marathon from April 19 to the fall. In January, the BAA announced the race would be scheduled for Oct. 11.

On a typical Marathon Monday, Marathon Sports marketing director Dan Darcy says the streets are packed with people and the company's Boylston Street store would have a line out the door.

"Marathon weekend around here is always the best weekend of the year," Darcy said.

Restaurants like Rochambeau, which is just a block from the finish line on Boylston, would normally be swamped.

"You have lines, you turn people away, you have waiting lists and callbacks," said Chef Nick Calias, culinary director for the Lyons Group, which runs Rochambeau. "It was, obviously, an incredible time for an incredible time for our restaurants and for all restaurants in the industry itself."

Overall, the Boston Marathon pumps in about $200 million into the local economy, according to Martha Sheridan, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"People fly into the airport. They use transportation to get into the city, whether that's taxi cabs or Ubers. They stay in hotels. They eat at restaurants. They shop," Sheridan said.

For many businesses in other communities along the race route, the economic boost from the marathon isn't necessarily as strong.

"You don't get a lot of customers coming in. You get window shoppers," said Demian Wendrow, head of the Wellesley Square Merchants Association and owner of two Wellesley businesses. "It's great to be here during that day to help support all the runners, which is wonderful, but business, generally, is nonexistent."

Business owners who spoke with NewsCenter 5 on Monday say they are optimistic that business is picking up in Boston and across the state, and that they are planning ahead for the scaled-down 2021 Boston Marathon in October.