Quad-City Times Bix 7 announces Beat the Elite head start distances, other updates

It now has been determined how much of an advantage the two recently-graduated Davenport Central seniors will receive in their quest to earn prize money.

Moeller will receive a 2-mile head start, starting her race right at the 2-mile banner along the gradual downhill slope of Kirkwood Boulevard. Richter will start out 1.7 miles ahead of everyone else, beginning his trek to the finish line from the intersection of Bridge and Kirkwood.

If either of them can beat the top elite runner to the finish line, they will pocket $2,500.

Through the years, 24 runners have been selected to try to beat the race’s champion to the finish line with the help of a head start and 18 of them have succeeded in doing so.

Bix is PRRO opener

Saturday’s Bix 7 is the opening race of the 2025-26 season of the Professional Road Running Organization circuit, an alliance of five races that hands out more than $400,000 in prize money to pro runners each year. Next year’s Bix will be the championship finale of this season.

The PRRO circuit comprises the Bix, the Utica (New York) Boilermaker 15k; the Gate River Run 15k in Jacksonville, Florida; the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-miler in Washington, D.C.; and the Lilac Bloomsday 12k in Spokane, Washington.

The championship race of the 2024-25 season was held July 13 at Utica.

Lillis is probable

Ed Lillis of Rock Island, one of the four men who has run or walked the Bix 7 in each of its first 50 years of existence, still is not entirely sure he will extend his streak but he said early this week that he thinks he will be able to walk the full seven miles Saturday.

“If I had my Bix-o-meter working, I’d say it’s at about 75% that I will go ahead and do it,’’ he said.

Lillis, 79, has undergone four hip replacements, two on each side of his body.

“What I need to do is just use the race for therapy, which I always have, and hope for the best,’’ he added.

The other three members of the every-Bix club have already said they plan to be out there although two of them, Don Fish of Davenport and Gary Fischer of Iowa City, only plan to run the Prairie Farms Quick Bix. Steve Clark of Algonquin, Illinois, is hoping to go the full seven miles.

Spending the money

The city of Davenport has won the Bix 7’s First Responders Challenge each of the past five years, earning $3,000 in prize money each time.

So how has all that money been used? The Davenport Police Department has used its share of the funds to pay entry fees for officers who want to run in events such as the Moonlight Chase and Race for Carl as well as the Bix 7.

Moline, which often has claimed the second-place prize money of $1,500, has yet to spend much of its winnings but one team member said it may eventually be used to buy a sauna.