![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/STT-L-MARATHON-2-1009.jpeg\")
A patron walks inside Downtown Deli along Biden Street in downtown Scranton on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)<\/p>\nAs runners traverse streets and trails during the Steamtown Marathon, shops and eateries across Lackawanna County benefit from the extra foot traffic each year.<\/p>\n
With approximately 1,300 participants winding their way through the 26.2 mile course from Forest City, in neighboring Susquehanna County, to Courthouse Square in Scranton on Sunday, small businesses from Carbondale to Blakely to Green Ridge welcome the influx of patrons.<\/p>\n
Curt Camoni, executive director of the Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau, described the marathon \u2014 first held in 1996 \u2014 as a \u201csolid economic impact event\u201d that showcases the region\u2019s natural amenities and spotlights the different offerings each area provides.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hits a lot of different communities, depending on where folks are going to watch it or where they decide to stay,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople know if they are anywhere near the footprint of activity for this event, they\u2019re going to see an escalation in their business that weekend. It\u2019s bringing in people from multiple different countries, and from all across our country. They stay in our hotels, and they shop and eat in our stores and restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to out-of-town guests, Camoni noted shops also benefit from the patronage of Northeast Pennsylvania residents during the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re much more likely during the course of the day, standing along the street in Blakely, to stop in one of the shops and grab a coffee or have lunch,\u201d he said. \u201cWith the traffic and everything, people get into position early so they\u2019re going to have lunch and they\u2019re going to grab some drinks. It\u2019s a great situation to give every community in the footprint a little boost for that weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah Weber, owner of Old & Brew along Main Street in the Peckville section of Blakely, sees new faces each year as race spectators pop into her shop.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Old & Brew isn\u2019t directly on the marathon trail, over the past four years we have seen some organic foot traffic from the marathon due to the parking lot directly across the street,\u201d she said. \u201cMany have been from out of town who stop in for a coffee and are pleased to browse our unique concept of mixing coffee and vintage together, and some have even been repeat visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n
A patron walks inside Downtown Deli along Biden Street in downtown Scranton on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE\/STAFF PHOTO)<\/p>\n
Denise Leppo, general manager of Downtown Deli along Biden Street in Scranton, noted the marathon provides a steady flow of customers for several days.<\/p>\n
\u201cStarting Friday, we\u2019ll see an uptick in foot traffic,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are more people downtown, more people out to eat, and that will go through the whole weekend. Sunday will be a little bit slower, just because of everything being closed down, but once it opens back up, the people start coming back out. We\u2019ll get a lot of out-of-town people in for the race, but we still have our regulars who will show up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leppo also anticipates the inaugural Steamtown Shortline \u2014 a 2.62-mile race set for Saturday morning that will start and finish at the Steamtown National Historic Site \u2014 will drive traffic to the restaurant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will definitely bring people in,\u201d she said. \u201cThose 5Ks bring people out. We welcome it, we love it. Anytime there are a lot of people downtown, it\u2019s a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alex Ayala \u2014 who opened A\u2019s Eatery along Sanderson Avenue in Scranton\u2019s Green Ridge section in March 2025 \u2014 recalled seeing large crowds gathered to watch the race last year and expressed optimism for even stronger sales this Sunday now that his business is more established.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone came out and supported, I couldn\u2019t complain,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping for a lot more people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trish Esgro, owner of Pinky\u2019s Family Restaurant on North Main Street in Carbondale, typically sees about a 70% jump in business during Steamtown Marathon weekend as patrons gather to support the runners.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople come in, enjoy a nice meal, and watch them out the window,\u201d she said. \u201cIt brings a lot of people out because their families from all over are rooting them on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As runners traverse streets and trails during the Steamtown Marathon, shops and eateries across Lackawanna County benefit from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[60,201,182,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-302620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-business","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}