In three weeks, a record number of runners are expected to take to Philadelphia‘s streets and compete in the city‘s 16th annual marathon.

With 10,000 entrants, the event with a budget of $1.7 million can count on a fourth consecutive year of growth while pumping $10 million into the regional economy and aiding seven local charities.

Those seem impressive numbers, until one looks elsewhere.

Take Chicago, for instance, where the marathon has 45,000 entrants and contributes $140 million to the economy, according to a University of Illinois study. The similarly sized New York marathon, being run today, means $220 million to that city. Both races generate tens of millions of dollars for scores of charities.

Overall last year, Philadelphia’s marathon ranked 12th in size in the United States, trailing the monsters like New York, Chicago, and Boston, but also races in Orlando and Portland, Ore.

“No other running race, in general, gets more people from out-of-town than a marathon,” said Dr. Scott Testa, a runner and a Cabrini College business professor who has studied the economic impact of sporting events. “Marathon runners are more willing to travel from out of state. Hotels and restaurants love them.”

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