Grandma's 50th sold out in 12 hours. Is your site ready for the crowd?

The 50th running of Grandma's Marathon sold out in about 12 hours and set records: 9,594 finishers and more than 22,000 participants across the weekend, drawn from 73 countries. For a few June days, Duluth fills with visitors who are hungry, thirsty, and looking for something to do between the finish line and the flight home.

Here's the thing about a spike like this: it's completely predictable. You know it's coming a year out, which means there's no excuse for a website that lists last season's hours or a menu that breaks on a phone.

Before the next big weekend, do the boring checks: confirm your hours and address are right everywhere online, make sure the site loads fast on mobile, and put whatever visitors need most, order online, book a table, get directions, one tap from your homepage. A predictable crowd is only a windfall if they can find you.