50 stories of the Quad City Times Bix 7
Did you know 2024 was the 50th running of the Quad City Times Bix 7? Want to learn more about the iconic 7-mile road race or reminisce from years past? We got you covered. Read about the history of Bix shirts, the daunting Brady Street Hill, music along the course and more.Â
The 51st Running of the Quad City Times Bix 7 is Saturday, July 26, 2025.Â
(50) updates to this series since
To the world beyond the bounds of eastern Iowa and western Illinois, the Quad-City Times Bix 7 probably just looks like a world-class road race.
When the Quad-City Times Bix 7 began in 1975, the race started with runners charging up the Perry Street hill.
The Quad-City Times Bix 7 isn’t just about running and physical fitness.
When you enter the Quad-City Times Bix 7, you have a decent chance of getting wet before the day is over.
A year-by-year look at the Quad-City Times Bix 7:
Bill Rodgers has run the Quad-City Times Bix 7 a total of 43 times and he still has a little trouble finding the words to describe how special…
It takes a lot of people to orchestrate a road race, even a small one. When the race has been among the largest in the Midwest for the past 40…
You can tell Dr. Lynn Schmidt-Dolan doesn’t really feel as though she belongs on the same list as superstar runners such as Joan Samuelson, Ca…
John Hudetz had no idea what he was starting back in the middle 1970s.
By the mid-1980s, excitement for the Quad-City Times Bix 7 had built to the point where local runners couldn’t wait to get out on the course a…
A year-by-year look at the Quad-City Times Bix 7:
Most of the elite distance runners in the world say the same thing. At most road races they see the spectators at the starting line and again …
You might think that now that her competitive running days are behind her, life might be slowing down for Joan Benoit Samuelson.
Not many sports events have had the same title sponsor for more than 40 years. Very few road races have maintained a close relationship with t…
Mark Nenow spent most of the 1980s wearing out running shoes, frequently logging 140 miles a week.
He is only 5 feet, 5 inches tall, but Ed Froehlich became a giant in the world of road race directors.
In its first 49 years, the Quad-City Times Bix 7 has had its share of moments that have been, well, sort of strange, not the sort of thing you…
From the Counting Crows to T-Pain, here are 12 concerts you shouldn't miss in the Quad-Cities area this summer.Â
A year-by-year look at the Quad-City Times Bix 7:
The Quad-City Times Bix 7 has commemorated its rich history with an array of statues in an area known as Bix Plaza, at the point of the Quad-C…
Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers are buddies now.
To some, the Quad-City Times Bix 7 is a world-class race.
What Devin and Kelsey Allbaugh have done in the Quad-City Times Bix 7 the past few years is fairly amazing.
For more than four decades, Dr. Jeff Bassman oversaw the recruiting and organizing of volunteers for the Quad-City Times Bix 7 and through the years that evolved into a huge undertaking.
Sprint races are supposed to have tight, almost-too-close-to-call finishes.
A year-by-year look at the Quad-City Times Bix 7:
When it’s all over, after you’ve run or walked or crawled seven miles or two miles, it’s time to party.
Don Fish’s knee really hurts. Both of Gary Fischer’s knees give him problems. Steve Clark has an aching back. Ed Lillis’ hips creak with every step.
Once the runners and walkers in the Quad-City Times Bix 7 reach the top of the daunting Brady Street Hill, their work has just begun.
Kellyn Taylor and Biya Simbassa each ran the Quad-City Times Bix 7 for the first time last year.
One of its earliest participants remembers it as being “the coolest running circus of kids and people just everywhere … It was very cool.’’ Th…
In the late 1990s, Quad-City Times Bix 7 officials realized that not everyone was enthralled with the idea of running seven miles up and down …
It began with popsicle sticks.
Meb Keflezighi remembers the first time he came to the Quad-City Times Bix 7, back in 2002.
There are people who seemingly won’t allow anything to keep them from participating in the Quad-City Times Bix 7 each year.
Maybe it’s because the Quad-City Times Bix 7 is held in the same month as Independence Day at a time when people are feeling especially patrio…
A year-by-year look at the Quad-City Times Bix 7:
In 2002, the Quad-City Times Bix 7 made a bold and innovative move that was so popular it has chosen to do the same thing a half dozen times t…
Fiona O’Keeffe added her name to the list earlier this year.
Ed Froehlich didn’t build the Quad-City Times Bix 7 into a monstrous and magical event all by himself. He had help. Lots of it.
Frank Bay has heard it a few times. Not too often, but every now and then someone will question why he continues to run road races at his adva…
A year-by-year look at the Quad-City Times Bix 7:
Kenya has been the dominant distance running country in the world for more than 50 years. So, it was inevitable that after the Quad-City Times…
Clayton Young had the second fastest qualifying time entering the U.S. Olympic marathon trials earlier this year, but he still was considered …
Since 2004, at least one local entrant in the Quad-City Times Bix 7 has been chosen each year to take a shot at getting to the finish line ahe…
Along with running in all but one of the Quad-City Times Bix 7 races, Kerry Gannon holds one other distinction in Bix 7 lore.
The Quad-City Times began having an official T-shirt in 1976, in its second year of existence. It tweaked its logo considerably through the fi…
The Quad-City Times Bix 7 continued to produce unique T-shirt logos in its second quarter-century of existence, often using caricatures of run…
It’s a lot shorter than the regular Quad-City Times Bix 7. It’s not necessarily easier.
Karl Ungurean, who died in December 2022, is going to be centerstage from now on. A life-size statue of him has been installed in Bix Plaza and it will be unveiled in ceremonies Monday at 6:30 p.m. as the Bix 7 prepares for its 50th running later in the week.
The Quad-City Times Bix 7 has grown from a single day of running to a week's worth of events, here's what's planned for this week.
Things to do this weekend for the 50th running of the Quad-City Times Bix 7 race.Â
Here are some places near downtown Davenport, the Village of East Davenport and other spots to grab some food or a drink during Bix weekend.Â
"This is one of the toughest (road races) in the world," Rogers said. "It's a hard as hell race."Â
The high is expected around 88 degrees.
Kaleb Walker, who attends Washington Elementary in Davenport, was one of more than 1,600 kids who signed up for this year’s Arconic Jr. Bix Friday afternoon in downtown Davenport.
Hopefully your plans for the Genesis Firecracker Run worked out as you had hoped and you're now set up for the second of the Big 3 road races here locally.
Davenport’s Don Fish has participated in every Bix 7 so far. These days, he also helps some of the top runners join the race as well.
Runners and walkers will toe the line Saturday for the Quad-City Times Bix 7. The week and weekend will be chock-full of events surrounding the iconic road-race, too.Â
