With the Tough Mudder obstacle race series coming to nearby Shamrock Sept. 14-15, Auxvasse is set to see a lot of traffic - and, potentially, dollars - flowing through the community that weekend.
Kent Wood with the Callaway County Health Department appeared before the council during its regular meeting Tuesday night and told the council that with event organizers recommending participants get to the race by traveling up Highway 54 to Route B from Interstate 70, "you're possibly going to see a lot of people coming through Auxvasse."
Wood said that as of two weeks ago there were 7,700 signed up to participate in the races on Saturday, and 1,500 signed up to participate on Sunday.
"With this many people, there's a good possibility you can raise quite a bit of funds here in the city," Wood said. "Poplar Bluff hosted last year and they made $2.5 million in income over two days. We stand to do very well out of this"
He said area residents should anticipate 3,00-4,000 cars to come through over the course of the weekend. Wood said event organizers are coordinating logistics with a number of area agencies, including the Callaway County Sheriff's Office, the Callaway County Ambulance District and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Later in the meeting, Mayor Kevin Phares brought the issue up again, noting he has done research on the Tough Mudder - an adventure race series that donates some of its proceeds to the Wounded Warrior Project.
"This is a major, major event. They are expecting approximately 8,000 people - they have told us every hotel, every campground (in the area) is packed," Phares said.