Chattanooga’s traffic patterns returned to normal Monday evening. All those annoying orange cones and road closure signs were back in storage, wherever that may be. Another Ironman competition was in the books, taking its brief traffic headaches for the Scenic City with it.
And let’s face it, there are times, especially if you’re in a hurry, when you might wish, if only for a moment, we could be rid of the Ironman and its road disruptions and restaurant wait times and all those visitors who probably look a whole lot more fit and healthy than you and me — and who wants to be reminded of that?
But it’s Tim Morgan’s job to bring such events to the city and it’s in all of our best interests to embrace an event that is said to bring $10 million or more into our town’s restaurants, hotels and chops each time the full-blown Ironman comes here, and it’s called Chattanooga home since 2014.
“The current contract is up next year,” said Morgan on Tuesday evening. “We don’t have the numbers in yet for this year, but it’s typically been one of our top economic generators, right up there with the Head of the Hooch Regatta and just behind a couple of youth softball tournaments.
“What makes it an interesting anomaly is that it’s an amazing variety of continuous positive comments about the competitors’ experiences here. Whether it’s the restaurants, or the hotels, or the volunteers — especially the volunteers — everybody feels so welcomed and wanted here. No one ever complains. And that’s never dipped or wavered in all the years we’ve been hosting the full or half-Ironman.”