The hundreds of professional athletes descending upon Waco this weekend for the XTERRA South Central Championship adventure triathlon and trail races at Cameron Park are known in the racing world as the “tribe.”

This tribe is a most welcome sight to Waco.

The athletes, trainers and their families bring thousands of dollars in restaurant, hotel and retail revenue to our city. And as they are returning for a second year, they obviously like it here as much as we like having them.

Several local businesses — such as Bicycles Outback, Boozer’s Jewelers and Arm-Tex Corp. — helped to pony up $25,000 for Waco to host the XTERRA South Central Championships for a second consecutive year, we’re told. That’s thinking outside the box and is fiscally smart for our city.

Ian and Catherine Moore own Bicycles Outback and were part of the push to bring the races here. Their home is in Cameron Park, and they run trails and ride mountain bikes there often. They say this is an opportunity to show the rest of the world how great our park is.

“It’s a great event for the city to host because it brings in a lot of international and out-of-state people and it really highlights what the city is trying to do with the park,” Ian Moore said. “It’s a fun place. It’s a neat place. The city has put a lot into it. Let’s embrace it and take care of it.”

The 500 athletes already know it’s a fun place, XTERRA vice president Trey Garman said. In fact, they wanted to return here.

“The course itself was a huge hit. It was one of those courses that was new to the tribe and they loved it,” said Garman, whose company is based in Hawaii and holds races all over the globe.

To have Waco rate so high is a real compliment. For local businesses to pitch in and realize the economic benefits from this relatively new sport of off-road triathlons — which began in 1996 in Hawaii — is quite impressive.

Sunday’s adventure-style triathlon includes a mile swim in the Brazos River, a 24-kilometer mountain bike route through Cameron Park, and 10-kilometer hilly park trail run. There also is a sprint, or half-distance race, on Sunday for those less hard-core. On Saturday, several XTERRA trail races will be held, including a 5-kilometer, 10-kilometer and 20-kilometer run.

Those not keen on fighting river currents or muddy trails should come watch. Special shuttles will ferry fans into the thick of the woods so spectators can view athletes as they take on hairpin curves.

Garman calls Cameron Park “gorgeous” and says “it opens up a whole new world for us there.”

We’ve known it all along. Now let’s let the rest of the world realize the potential of what our park offers.