Active tourists could influence others

QCS Managing Editor

Tourism in Tucumcari has been on the minds of many these days.

I attended a meeting of the tourism-minded in Tucumcari City Commission chambers Monday evening and heard many ideas on how Tucumcari can parlay its heritage and surroundings to lure more drivers off Interstate 40 and U.S. 54 instead of bypassing the city.

What dawned on me after the meeting was that I had spent a good part of the past three days among some unique tourists.

On Saturday and Sunday, I followed a traveling show of about about 50 marathon runners from all over America, even Australia, at the Ute and Conchas lake state parks.

They are organized by an outfit called Mainly Marathons and the weekend runs were part of the company’s New Mexico Parks series of marathon runs. Many ran full 26.2 marathons on both days. Some ran 13.1-mile half-marathons on roads and trails at both lakes.

Clint Burrelson of Las Cruces, the owner, wasn’t available to talk much, because he, too, was on the course, running full marathons on both days. On his Mainly Marathons website, however, he says he promotes marathon runs in the most casual way possible, considering the distances, for those who consider ultra-fitness relaxing. The staff celebrates the customers’ triumphs along with them, because they, too, are among the super-athletes who consider a marathon a stroll in the park--well, a long, hard stroll in the park.

Mainly Marathons sponsors events all over the country, all year long, and Burrelson’s customers follow the tour with great loyalty, several participants told me.

On Monday, I went to visit the 17th Annual Iron Pour at Mesalands Community College. Many, if not most, of the students and artists who create sculpture and devote lots of sweat equity to make this event successful are from out of town.

Technically they’re students, but they’re having more fun than most tourists do by working hard to achieve remarkable feats of artistry and craftsmanship.

What these two remarkable groups have in common is accomplishment. They use their travel time to achieve some goals that require effort and patience but that they also enjoy.

The question I am left with is what can Tucumcari do to attract more of this kind of tourist?

One word that came up at Monday evening’s meeting was “eco-tourism.” That’s where your main travel activity involves some kind of non-polluting activity, like riding a bicycle, hiking or riding a horse, and then making sure you take out everything you bring in.

The enthusiasm of the achievement-oriented tourists I visited over the last several days was contagious, and doers are quite often leaders. If they liked being here, they’ll tell their friends and their friends will listen. We’ll be seeing them, too.

I could be wrong, but I think we could do worse in Quay County than to find ways to lure active tourists to accomplish their fun here.

Steve Hansen is the managing editor at the Quay County Sun. He can be reached at [email protected]