France: The Socioeconomic Impact of a Half Marathon. The Case of Phalempin as Part of an International Study

Phalempin is a small town (4500 inhabitants) located 13 km south of Lille, north of France) now mostly a dormitory suburb. The territory includes a small forest part of the half marathon. On July 19th, 2016 was run the 32nd edition of the traditional road running, one of the most famous and recognized sport event in the region, organized by two associations with the support of the municipality. Since 2014 the event gathers 3500 participants, the maximum number of runners allowed by the organizers. Three hundred and fifty volunteers help to organize the event. The study is organized mostly around a questionnaire given to all the participants, an interview with the Mayor of the town and two deputies and another one with the organizers. The sample respondents to the questionnaire was N = 591, 16.9 of the runners, 76.6% of men, 28.4% of women, all French but one from Belgium. It appears in the results that it is mostly a local race, the loyalty must be developed, and the major motivation is to challenge oneself and pleasure. The expenditures are very low. The wide majority of the respondents underline the quality of the site and of the natural environment. If one of the question was « is it possible to develop tourism in Phalempin thanks to the half marathon?» the answer is clearly no because of the lack of hotels and restaurants, and participants don’t come to discover the region, very few spending one night in the town, mostly at friend’s. The Major considers that developing tourism is a mere far-off perspective and the organizers work « for the love of sport ».