A 7-mile race held in Davenport, Iowa

BIX 7
The Quad-City Times BIX 7 was the Runners' World Race of the Month for July 2007. Of the 15,002 registered to start, there were 11,331 finishers in the 33rd Edition run on July 28, 2007, a well-organized race with long time race director Ed Froelich at the helm.

The race is held in association with the The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival. Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke was a 1920s jazz musician from Davenport. For fans of jazz of the Twenties, this is the weekend to be in Davenport.

The course is regarded as tough, difficult, challenging (pick your adjective) with hills and (usually) heat. There is good age group competition with runners coming from throughout the Midwest.

A long list of elite runners from all over the world make their way to Davenport for the last weekend in July. Meb Keflezighi, Olympic Silver medalist, regularly runs this race. Joan Benoit Samuelson and Bill Rodgers are perennial participants in the BIX 7.

At 8:04 am there was a flyover by members of the Iowa Air National Guard and the race was on, beginning near the banks of the Mississippi River and climbing up the steep, infamous, Brady Street hill. The out and back course winds through pleasant, tree lined residential areas, up another steep hill, and down to the McClellan Boulevard turn around point near the Mississippi.

The route was continuously lined with cheering spectators as well as frequent and welcome hose sprays. There was a variety of musical groups entertaining and encouraging the runners.

On the return, runners fly down the Brady Street hill before making the final left turn on 3rd Street for the last quarter mile flat stretch to the finish line and a fine post-race party in an area where a statue of Bill Rodgers and Joan Samuelson stands at the grassy apex of the park overlooking the Mississippi River.

The 2007 winner was Duncan Kibet (28) from Kenya in 32:15, and in the female division it was Wude Ayalew (20) of Ethiopia in 36:57. Ayalew was the first woman in the Peachtree Road Race earlier in the month.

On a historical note, these two native Iowans ran this race in 1988 with Jeanette finishing 6th of 284 in the 50-59 age group. In 1988 Mark Curp and Joan Samuelson were the winners, with Bill Rodgers and Priscilla Welch also running in '88. Samuelson also won the women's division here in '83, '85, and '86.

In 2007, Samuelson set a course record for 50-year-old females, and won the masters division in 43:05. Bill Rodgers, who would turn 60 the next year, ran the course in 51:44. Jeanette was 3rd of 16 competitors in her age group, 70-74. John was 10th of 37 in the male 70-74 age group.

If you are in the Midwest in the latter part of July, consider this highly regarded race.

Information about the race can be found at www.bix7.com. The 2008 race will be held July 26.