For five decades, the streets of Davenport have seen people "run with the best." Today marks the 50th running of the Quad-City Times Bix 7. Thousands of runners and walkers will climb the daunting Brady Street Hill before continuing to the full 7-mile course or the Prairie Farms 2-mile Quick Bix.
Race Director Michelle Juehring said there's no race quite like the QC Times Bix 7. "It's an amazing accomplishment of the collective eff orts of so many people and something that all of us can feel proud of," she said. "I'm just so very grateful to have a small role in this huge event.
" This will be Juehring's 21st year involved with the race, she said, and her fifth as race director. Originally from Wisconsin, Juehring said when she moved to Davenport it felt like she was in a bigger city, but that it had a hometown feel to it — a sense of community. And race week, she said, is exactly like that.
With everyone that is involved, such as the volunteers, sponsors and participants, the race QC Times Bix 7 embodies a sense of community. "There's just so much beauty in the fellowship of everyone coming together," she said. "We start together when that gun goes off and everybody goes at the same time.
" Bix 7 beginnings When the first Bix 7 was held in 1975, it marked the largest gathering of runners in the Quad-Cities at a steeping 84. Founded by John Hudetz of Bettendorf, he had gone off to compete in the Boston Marathon in 1974. He returned home wanting to create something similar in the community with his friend Brian Owen, the Dispatch-Argus/Quad-City Times reported.
The two decided over lunch one day to start an organization that would be known as the Cornbelt Running Club. Now, 50 years later, the club is one of the most successful organizations of its kind and one of its races is known to runners across the globe. The club is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting running and walking in the bi-state area.
Paul Schmidt has been involved with the club since 1996 and has served as president since 2003. He also is the assistant race director for the QC Times Bix 7. The first Bix 7 he ever ran was in 1986, he said, and he has not missed running in a single one since.
Brady Street Hill can be daunting, he said, especially when standing at the bottom, but for him the race was always about challenging himself. "But as the years go by, and you get a little bit older, or in my case, a lot older and slower, it's about all the friendships you make and the family and the camaraderie and just the experience of it being more than just a race," he said. And a race that once only had 84 people running it, has ballooned.
At 8 p.m. Friday, Juehring reported that 16,500 runners were registered for Saturday's race.
That's the biggest turnout since 2016. Registration was open until midnight Friday so numbers could creep even higher. "Fifty-years of people pouring their hearts and soul into this — running, walking, whatever they can do," Schmidt said.
Bix planning Planning for the 50th QC Times Bix 7 began about a year ago, Juehring said. A committee was created, which includes race director emeritus Ed Froehlich. Froehlich was the race director for 40 years, stepping down in 2019.
But Froehlich came out of retirement to help plan. Thinking he was only going to be race director for one year, Froehlich said, he didn't think the race would become as big as it has. In 1980, he said, they were able to bring in long-distance runner Bill Rodgers because the United States was boycotting the Olympics in Moscow and Rodgers did not get the chance to win gold in the Olympics.
And since then, Rodgers has kept coming back to run in the QC Times Bix 7. The following year, they also brought in Frank Shorter, Froehlich said. On top of Rodgers and Shorter coming to the Bix, there also is Joan Benoit Samuelson.
The American marathon runner was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning gold in 1984. She ran the QC Times Bix 7 in 1983 and will be running the race for the 34th time today. And the race numbers just kept doubling year after year, he said.
"It just got into my blood," Froehlich said. "It's just something that, if you have a passion for it, you just keep striving to do better." And being on the same course as elite runners, Juehring said, is one of the best and most inspiring parts of the race.
"Our tagline is run with the best," she said. "And you are truly on the same course, and you see them." And change kept coming for the Bix 7 in the early 1980s.
In 1981, the Bix 7 and Quad-City Times hatched a deal in which the local paper would become the title sponsor and has been for the past 44 years. Dan Hayes, former QC Times editor, said it's been a thrill to be a part of the QC Times Bix 7 all these years. Hayes was the editor at the time when the local paper became the title sponsor for the race.
When the paper became the official title sponsor, Hayes said, that is when they started to push Froehlich's priority — getting the community involved. "Ed always believed that if you can get crowds, you're going to get runners," Hayes said. 'Community enthusiasm' Rodgers, one of the most decorated long-distance runners, is running the race for the 44th time today.
Rodgers won the first time he did the race. So he came back and won it again. "This is one of the toughest (road races) in the world," Rodgers said.
"It's a hard as hell race." And though the Brady Street Hill looks daunting, Rodgers shared it is a physical challenge but it's also more of a mental challenge. "You just have to think you can do it," he said.
But the best part of the race, he said, are the people. For Froehlich, the sprints are one of the most exciting events and the event he loves most. He got the idea from something he remembered seeing as a young kid living in Des Moines, he shared.
He was about 11, he said, and was passing through an area and saw a track meet on the street and kids running in their bare feet sprinting and seeing lots of spectators on both sides. "When I got involved with the Bix, I said, 'we need something like that'," he said. "And then I thought of Brady Street Hill and that would make it so unique, sprinting up that hill.
" When the Quad-City Times became title sponsor, Hayes said the role for the paper became pushing community enthusiasm. The community support, all the different sponsors, live music and people throwing house parties along the course is what helped make the race what it is today, Hayes said. "It's just, the community spirit, that's what I think pumps up a lot of people and pumps up me," Hayes said.
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