Mike Jay pushes more teens to get involved with the Quad-City Times Bix 7

He ran Davenport’s iconic midsummer road race for about 10 years in the 1980s and 1990s before back issues forced him to quit. As a high school track coach in Columbus Junction, Iowa, he brought plenty of his athletes to the Quad-Cities every summer to run the hills of Bix. He has continued to watch the race’s astonishing development and longevity from afar through the years.

And now he is taking an active role in getting even more teenaged runners involved in the event.

Jay, who long ago became one of the foremost track and field announcers in the country, is at the forefront of a new initiative to get high school runners to compete in the Bix 7, which will be held for the 52nd time on July 25.

“I just think it’s such a great event for our state and anybody that has a running background needs to do it at least once in their life,’’ Jay said.

Jay and his Track Guy Foundation are partnering with Iowa American Water Co. to sponsor high school runners in Iowa who would like to run the Bix 7.

“It’s our way to help those kids that maybe read about it in the paper or see it on TV, but can’t afford to be in it,’’ Jay said.

In mid-May, he sent a QR code to every track and cross country coach in Iowa, extending an invitation for their proteges to run the Bix 7. He said it will be limited to 100 young runners, but he admitted that if more than that are interested he is determined to make that happen.

“Put it this way, we’re not going to turn anybody away,’’ Jay said. “We’ll see. That would be a great problem to have. We’ve had people step up and say ‘If you get more than 100, we’re in.’ I’m not worried about it.’’

Jay said the race falls at a good time for high school cross country runners who already are deep in their training for the fall season.

“It’s a good way for a coach to get a kid to do a 7-mile long run on the weekend,’’ he added.

Jay, 66, has been doing what he can to support and promote track and cross country for most of his life.

He first began serving as the track announcer for events in the 1980s and it has been his primary job for about a quarter century. He has been the announcer for 23 Drake Relays, 35 NCAA championships and five Olympic trials. In 2014, he was presented the Scott Davis Memorial Award, which is given by the Track and Field Writers of America to the nation’s best announcer.

In 2018, he developed the Track Guy Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. As of late March, the foundation had purchased 1,700 pairs of shoes for kids who want to run track and cross country, sponsored 96 $500 scholarships for graduating high school seniors and paid the way for dozens of runners to attend summer camps.

“Our mission is to help kids who can’t afford to do what they want to do,’’ Jay said.

One of his runners back in his Columbus Junction days was Brad Nielsen, who is now president of Iowa American Water, a long-time Bix supporter. Nielsen helped to set up a meeting with Bix 7 race director Michelle Juehring, who quickly embraced the idea of getting more young runners involved in the Bix 7.

The race has given monetary awards to the top male and female high school finishers in the Bix 7 every year since 2013, but this figures to greatly increase the number of teenaged runners in the event.

“To be able to give back to the sport like we do with our foundation is so important,’’ Jay said. “To have Iowa American Water join us on this is a big deal. When you do something and other people notice, it’s pretty heart-warming.’’