Foot and bicycle races of all kinds are popular downtown. Often they are standalone events, which take participants on routes through the city center. Others are part of a larger event such as the Turkey Trots held regularly on Black Friday.
But downtowns across the country are also creating their own races based on local lore, fundraising needs, and unique opportunities.
If you have a dining or entertainment niche downtown, a waiter race is a natural. For years in Visalia, CA, waiters and waitresses donned their work uniforms and running shoes for a special foot race based loosely on the famed cafe race in Paris.
In Visalia’s fine-dining category, contestants carried a tray with two wine glasses and a wine bottle. In the fast-food category, racers carried a burger container and two cups of soda. No matter what they were carrying, the goal was to be the first to cross the finish line with everything still on the tray.
More on bringing visitors downtown appears regularly in the pages of Downtown Idea Exchange newsletter.
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