Excitement Builds for Annual Saint Francis Tulsa Tough

The Saint Francis Tulsa Tough is back for another year with bike races and events all weekend.

At Saint Francis Tulsa Tough Headquarters, staff and volunteers are busy getting ready for a weekend full of events. With Tulsa's most popular biking event fast approaching, people are busy getting everything ready. Volunteer Greg Phillips is getting the VIP tents organized.

"So, this is the Friday race course and this is our St. Francis Sponsor VIP tent here," says Phillips.

He says people come from all over to watch the races.

"Tulsa tough is arguably the Super Bowl of criterium racing in the nation, you talk to the largest teams in the nation and what races they're focused on and Tulsa is always at the top of the list," he says.

"It's a massive organizational production and logistics effort," says Saint Francis Tulsa Tough Executive Director Malcolm McCollam.

He says they have roughly 800 volunteers and the event takes over a year to plan.

"We're working on the 2024 event before we've even held the 2023 event so it's more than a 12-month cycle," says McCollam.

He says for many people, it's something they look forward to all year.

"It's a real honor to have people that have circled our weekend on the calendar and they know nothing else is going to happen to them that weekend except this event," he says.

The races kick off Friday and there will be a free live concert Saturday night in the Tulsa Arts District.

"It is really a community event that's a 3-day block party," says McCollam.