RALEIGH -- The race is on in Raleigh this weekend.

"I’m running just the half-marathon,” explained Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker. “It's been years since I’ve run that far, and I’m looking forward to it."

Meeker will be one of 3,700 runners who will take part in the first City of Oaks Marathon this Sunday. The race starts and ends near Trinity Road, looping runners downtown and up through Umstead Park.

"It's part of our transformation of becoming one of those 21st century cities that's really doing well," Meeker said.

Organizers expect the marathon to do well for Raleigh. The city's Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates one out of every six runners in Sunday's marathon is from an hour or more away. That means money for Raleigh hotels and restaurants.

"It's difficult to do an economic impact pre-race because this is an inaugural event for us,” said Scott Dupree, who is with the Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It's been growing very fast in the last month."

Instead, they will wait until the race is over to survey the economic impact.

"It's not what it's about this weekend. It’s about what it can become over the next three to five to 10 years,” Dupree said. “I do think there's tremendous growth potential."

It is a potential that is being tapped for the second time. Raleigh hosted the Raleigh Marathon in 2000, 2001 and 2002. This time around organizers are hopeful the race will keep going for many years to come.