For the fourth straight year, the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon will be taking over Champaign-Urbana. An expected 20,000 participants will fill the streets as the try to obtain their personal record in any one of the races held over the weekend.

The event is a huge boost to the local economy, with many participants coming into the area just for the race. At the Champaign County Convention & Visitor's Bureau, we want to give local businesses the opportunity to capitalize on the additional traffic in town through our Wooden Nickel program.

This unique and free program helps drive marathon traffic directly to you. Throughout the weekend, we'll be handing out Wooden Nickels to race participants in order to receive discounts at your business. All you need to do is offer an attractive discount and we'll do the rest!

Businesses who choose to participate get free advertising pre-race with their logo and website on display through  the Illinois Marathon website. We'll also heavily promote our business during the Health & Fitness Expo on Thursday and Friday before the big day and following the race at our award-winning street fest, the 27th Mile Celebrate Victory Bash.

So businesses of Champaign County, what are you waiting for? The Wooden Nickel program is your ticket to increased foot traffic during one of the busiest and most exciting weekends of the year. Don't wait any longer. The sooner you sign up with your special offer, the longer you'll be promoted on the Illinois Marathon website.

Check out all the details here and complete your participating business agreement form to let the free promotion of your business begin! On your marks...get set...GO!