Mohammed El Youssif breaks the tape to win the Quad-City Times Bix 7 on Saturday, July 25, 2026.
It’s as if the stars were aligned perfectly for Morocco’s Mohammed El Youssfi.
First of all, it was his 29th birthday. He was competing for the championship of the Professional Road Runners Organization in a race that had only hosted the PRRO finals once before. The winner on that occasion was Khalid Khannouchi, the only Moroccan runner ever to win the race. And Khannouchi’s win occurred the day after El Youssfi was born.
Leader Mohammed El Youssfi from Morocco has the finish line in sight as he runs down Third Street and wins Saturday, July 25, 2026, during the 52nd running of the Quad-City Times Bix 7 road race held in Davenport.
It all turned out just the way El Youssfi hoped.
He took control of the Quad-City Times Bix 7 in the last few kilometers Saturday and pulled away to win the 52nd episode of the iconic race.
He earned $22,500 for his win. The Bix 7’s first-place prize money is $12,500, and he earned an additional $10,000 super bonus because he won two other PRRO races earlier this year.
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His finishing time of 32 minutes, 8 seconds is tied for the seventh best in the race’s history, but it was 46 seconds faster than Khannouchi ran in his 1997 PRRO victory.
Leader and eventual winner Mohammed El Youssfi from Morocco (left) grabs a drink of water along Kirkwood Blvd. on Saturday, July 25, 2026, during the 52nd running of the Quad-City Times Bix 7 road race held in Davenport.
El Youssfi came in thinking he might be able to run ever faster.
“I was hoping to go for the course record, but the weather didn’t help me today,’’ he said. “The humidity was really high.
El Youssfi was part of a large pack at the outset of the race. Wesley Kiptoo, who won the 50th annual Bix in 2024 and was second last year, was at the front, but runners such as Kenya’s Amon Kemboi and Victor Shitsama, Eritrea’s Dawit Seare, 2023 Bix champion Biya Simbassa and others all were within a step or two.
Leader and eventual winner Mohammed El Youssfi from Morocco (left) breaks away from the pack at the top of Brady Street hill Saturday, July 25, 2026, during the 52nd running of the Quad-City Times Bix 7 road race held in Davenport.
El Youssfi didn’t really gain any separation until there were about three kilometers to go. He really pulled away by running the final kilometer in 2 minutes, 22 seconds, which he said is a personal best for that distance.
“I was very happy with that last kilometer,’’ he admitted.
Seare was a surprising second in a time of 32:11, which is tied for the 11th-best time in Bix 7 history.
Kemboi finished third, Simbassa was fourth and Kiptoo out-kicked Shitsama to get fifth place.
Unlike El Youssfi, Simbassa said he liked the overcast, cooler-than-normal conditions.
“The weather was great,’’ he said. “This is my first race since January because I’ve been injured. I was very happy with it.’’
It was the first Bix 7 appearance for El Youssfi, who is a relative newcomer to the U.S. road racing scene. Just last year, he won national junior college championships in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters for Odessa (Texas Junior College). He then went out and won a pair of pro races, the Philadelphia Half-marathon and Flanigan’s Rockin Rib 10K before the season was over.
Mohammed El Youssfi crosses the finish line at the 2026 Quad-City Times Bix 7.
This year, he really has emerged as a force, winning the Pittsburgh Half-marathon, the Cherry Blossom 10-miler and the Gate River Run 15K as well as finishing in the top 10 in a handful of other big races.
El Moussfi said this was his last road race of the summer. He’ll begin gearing up for a marathon now, but he admitted it almost certainly won’t be his last Bix 7.
“I like the Bix. I like this state, Iowa,’’ he said. “I would definitely come back.’’
