Bettendorf's Kelsey Allbaugh beats the elite at Bix 7 for $2,500 prize

Allbaugh, 35, is a teacher in the Pleasant Valley School District who “Beat the Elite” at the Quad-City Times Bix 7 on Saturday morning. It was Allbaugh’s fifth time running in the Bix 7, but her first time getting a head start and trying to fend off the field of elite runners. Allbaugh held on to her 2.2 mile head start and took home the $2,500 she will use on her upcoming family trip.

“We’re going to Disneyland in a couple of weeks, but they’re very, very excited about it, and I figure we can do some extra special things when we’re out there,” Allbaugh said.

Seeing her kids helped motivate Allbaugh to cross with an unofficial time of 31:34. Only the motorcade was visible behind her when she finished. Although Allbaugh held a lead, she said she didn’t take a moment to relax until she crossed the finish line. 

“When I got down here, it was hurting," Allbaugh said. "I was moving. It was hard.”

Allbaugh said running in the Beat the Elite competition made this Bix 7 unlike any other. She heard her family, training partners and strangers calling her name, cheering her on. Last year, she won the Eloise Caldwell Trophy as the top local female finisher in the race and had done so four of the past five years.

Crossing the line as the first finisher is an accomplishment Allbaugh said she could only hope to reach after she had the last of her three kids in February 2021. She said she overcame health issues this winter as well.

“I sure hoped I would,” Allbaugh said. “I had some big aspirations before I had my kids, and I wasn’t able to PR for a while, and I hoped I would be back to here one day.” 

Phil Young, the male Beat the Elite competitor from Davenport, received a 0.85-mile head start but couldn’t hold off the elite field with his time of 32:23. Morocco's Mohammed El Youssfi placed first overall in 32:07. 

Young specializes in ultramarathon races and is most comfortable in the 100-mile range, so running less than seven miles felt like a sprint. He said his mistake was going out too hard and that he got caught coming back down Brady Street past the KWQC building. The new dynamics of starting with a lead and even hearing motorcycles behind him posed a challenge. 

“Oh, it’s way different,” Young said. “I’m redlining the whole time in a race like this. And 100 miles is a real calculated, sustained effort, like how long can you feel real good? And here it’s like you got to feel bad the whole time, for me.”