The 7 mile road race is annually held during late July, in the streets of downtownDavenport, Iowa. The race was founded in 1975 by John Hudetz, a resident ofBettendorf, Iowa. After competing in the 1974Boston Marathon, Hudetz was inspired to bring the excitement to theQuad-Cities with a race of his own. The inaugural race had a field consisting of eighty-four runners.[1] Today the race is often run by 12,000 to 18,000 runners.[2][3]
The United States’ boycott of the 1980 Olympics helped gain the Bix 7 exposure.Bill Rodgers, the world's top distance runner at the time, was unable to compete in Moscow, so he went to Davenport instead.[4] The leadership of Race Director Ed Froehlich, promotion by the Quad-City Times newspaper, and generosity from several corporate sponsorships, has helped the Bix 7 develop into the largest non-marathon race in theMidwest,[5] The race consistently draws elite talent from all over the globe. Running legends Bill Rodgers and 1984 Olympic Marathon Gold MedalistJoan Benoit Samuelson also compete yearly.[6]
The run is primarily sponsored by theQuad City Times and is a separate entity from the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society and theBix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, which is held the following weekend. The race has several other sponsors, at the Platinum, Gold Medal, and contributing level respectively.
John Korir
