Bix 7 Notebook: Samuelson, Keflezighi collect more Bix hardware

The four legendary runners who appeared at various Quad-City Times Bix 7 events this week all made it through the grand 50th-anniversary race just fine.

In fact, two of them came away with awards.

Joan Samuelson, who has won four Bix 7 women’s championships and 15 masters titles, was the winner of the women’s 65-69 age group and she did it in record time — 50 minutes, 47 seconds. She now holds the women’s course record in four age groups — 50-54, 55-59, 60-64 and 65-69.

Meanwhile, two-time Bix 7 champion Meb Keflezighi added the men’s 45-49 age group championship to his resume on Saturday.

Keflezighi said he wasn’t really sure he was going to push himself in the race, but with the crowd cheering and urging him on, he couldn’t help himself. He covered the course in 41:37.

At one point, Keflezighi encountered a man who told him he’d had dreams of running the race with him.

“Then he took off, but I caught up with him and said ‘Let’s make your dreams come true,’’’ Keflezighi said.

Bill Rodgers, who won the Bix in 1980 and 1981 and has run it every year since, finished Saturday's run in a time of 1:19:46.

Two-time Olympic medalist Frank Shorter, who like Rodgers is 76, did the two-mile Quick Bix. But he said he still had a great time, marveling at how many times little kids breezed past him along the way.

At one point, a mother with a small daughter who Shorter estimated to be 5 or 6, came up alongside him. The mom told the girl to just go ahead and take off if she wanted. She’d see her at the finish line. The girl turned on the jets and took off.

“You could almost see the vapor trail,’’ Shorter joked.

Age-group records: Samuelson wasn’t the only person to set a course record for their age group.

It also was accomplished by Lucas Hollingshead of Elkhart, Ind., in the men’s 15-under division (37:41) and Richard Kutzner of Clear Lake, Iowa, in the men’s 80-84 (1:04:10).

And for the first time, the Bix 7 had 85-over divisions so the winners there obviously established records. The winners were Dave Zimmer of Long Grove, Iowa, and Norma Mullins of Moline.

Another Hird win: The first runner across the finish line in the Prairie Farms Quick Bix was a familiar face.

Zach Hird, a former Alleman High School runner who now lives in Naperville, Ill., won the Bix 7’s two-mile alternative in a time of 9 minutes, 48 seconds.

Hird won the Gregg Newell Trophy as the top local finisher in the seven-mile race in both 2018 and 2019.

The first female finisher in the Quick Bix on Saturday was Jennifer Douglass of Assumption, Ill.

Unbreakable Glass: Bryan Glass knows his Bix history well. Already a five-time master's champion, Glass put his name in the same breath as one of the Bix legends with a strong race Saturday.

At the age of 50, Glass finished the seven miles in 38 minutes, 21 seconds, becoming just the second runner 50 or older to run the race in under 40 minutes. The first? Bill Rodgers.

Glass was only 11 seconds off the 50+ record set by Rodgers — who ran 38:10 back in 1998.

"It was my goal for the last year, knowing that I could do it, I knew I could. Now, I ran faster than I ever thought I could do today, but I think it was just God giving me the ability to be prepared today, and I went for it."

Glass has a long history of running. He was a state champ at Geneseo and went to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He's also a member of the Springfield Road Runners Club Hall of Fame.

This is another accolade Glass has to be proud of.

"It's emotional because you work so hard for so many years," Glass said. "I never thought I'd get to the point where I'd have a chance to put my name up with Bill Rodgers. Now I know he's above anything I would ever beat, but to know that I'm in that same class in some sense in my home area, makes me so proud."

A rare Bix triple: Credit to recent Bettendorf High School graduate Maya Williams for giving it her all during the 50th QCT Bix 7 week. The standout sprinter pulled off a rare double on Thursday, running two races in the Brady Street Sprints — winning the open women's race and anchoring the Bulldogs' relay team to the high school girls' title.

Just for good measure, she figured she would jump into Saturday's 7-miler. Making that decision Friday evening didn't give her much recovery time. She posted a 1:18.21 clocking on Saturday.

RRCA honors: The Bix 7 served as the national championship race for the Road Runners Club of America on Saturday, which meant a little additional hardware for some runners.

In addition to men’s champion Wesley Kiptoo and women’s champion Raechel Chebet, Samuelson was honored as the women’s 60-over champion and Glass as the men’s 50-over champ.

Other honorees were Artur Mueller of Davenport, men 40-over; Jess Hruska of Dubuque, women 40-over; Kate Maurer of Urbandale, Iowa, women 50-over; and Rick Torres of Elizabethtown, Ky., men 60-64.

Weather vane: Saturday's weather for the race was nearly perfect. At race time, it was 68 degrees with a manageable 81% humidity. It was just the 18th time in 50 events that the race started with a temperature under 70 degrees.

Making her mark: Paityn Noe, last year’s Bix 7 high school girls’ top finisher, came back this year and had another solid race.

The University of Arkansas freshman from Huxley, Iowa (Ballard High School), was the seventh women’s finisher, clocking a time of 38 minutes, 34 seconds, just 2:13 behind winner Rachael Chebet.

In May, she finished second in the SEC Championships 10,000-meter run, clocking a 33:57.35. She also finished fifth last fall in the SEC cross country meet, running 19:43.7 for the 6,000-meter race.

Enjoy the day: Maggie Montoya, who was the third female overall finisher in Saturday’s Bix 7, enjoyed her first run through the streets of Davenport with 16,586 other people.

“When you’re surrounded by this mass of people, it brings you back to racing a marathon and being around people,” she said after finishing in 37:13. “It was nice to be back in that atmosphere.

“… There’s something about being surrounded by so many people that really adds to the event. It was fun being back out on the roads again.”

13-minute start: How long does it take for 16,587 to cross the starting line? The group of runners dressed as Elvis Presley, who almost always bring up the rear of the pack, finally got to the starting line when the race was 13 minutes old.

posted Monday July 29th
by TJ Johnson