Deere increases its involvement with Quad-City Times Bix 7 by hosting shakeout run

Through the years it also has had ongoing sponsorship agreements with the community’s hockey, baseball and indoor football teams. But it wasn’t until last year that the area’s largest employer developed a relationship with the area’s other major sports event.

Deere will be even more involved with the Quad-City Times Bix 7 this year as it not only will be a gold medal sponsor of the race but it also will host the annual shakeout run with running icon Bill Rodgers next Friday on the eve of the big race.

“It felt like with the Bix being such a great, truly regional event that it felt right for us to also participate in that,’’ said Holly McAvoy, Deere’s manager of brand activation and events.

McAvoy said it was fitting that Deere began sponsoring the Bix last year in that it was not only the race’s 50th running but also the 50th anniversary of the opening of Deere’s Davenport Works.

“We felt it was a great acknowledgement of these two really important things that happened 50 years ago in the Davenport area,’’ she said.

Deere’s involvement last year included a massive party along the race course and having some of its equipment on display near the race’s finish line.

This year, the John Deere Pavilion, where some of the company’s largest farm implements are on display, will serve as the starting point for Rodgers’ pre-race shakeout run.

“We love to host things for the community at our pavilion because it showcases Deere well,’’ McAvoy said.

Runners and walkers will gather with Rodgers at 8 a.m. on July 25 at the John Deere Pavilion in downtown Moline and jog on the bike path along the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. It is billed as a “great way to loosen up before the race’’ and it also provides an opportunity for local residents to mingle with a runner who won four championships in both the Boston Marathon and New York City Marathon.

It’s something Rodgers has done prior to the Bix since 2022 and this year he is expected to be joined by Joan Samuelson, a four-time Bix 7 champion and winner of the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984.

There is no registration and no cost to participate in the event.

McAvoy said it’s all part of Deere’s quest to upgrade the quality of life in the Quad-Cities.

“Part of our sponsorship strategy for local sponsorships is to make sure that as a leading employer in the area, we’re making sure that the area is a rich and rewarding area for our employees to live in and have their families in,’’ she said.