Bechtel Trusts Senior Bix sticks with same location after success of inaugural event

The organizers of the Quad-City Times Bix 7 planned to hold a senior race last year in conjunction with the event’s 50th annual race. It was going to be a non-competitive jaunt for runners and walkers over the age of 50, and it was going to be held in LeClaire Park along the Davenport riverfront.

There was one problem: As the end of July approached, much of the planned location for the run was buried beneath the floodwaters of the Mississippi River. The organizers had to go to Plan B and move the whole thing a few miles upriver to the parking lot of the Isle Casino Hotel and the Bettendorf bike path.

The event ended up being better than anyone ever imagined. The new site had a large, covered parking area in which to hold the post-race party. Runners and walkers raved about the location.

Not surprisingly, Plan A has been permanently scuttled and the Bechtel Trusts Senior Bix again will be held in Bettendorf. It is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The inaugural Senior Bix couldn’t have possibly gone better.

More than 1,000 people turned out to do the run, including many people who formerly ran the main Bix 7 race for years but were no longer capable of doing seven grueling miles up and down hills.

Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter, a pair of 76-year-old running legends, took part in the festivities and were flabbergasted by the turnout and the celebratory atmosphere.

“It’s clear the spirit of running has aged very well,’’ Shorter said.

Rodgers said he has seen only one other race — the Oklahoma City Marathon — hold a senior event and that one is much different. In Oklahoma, people ages 60 and over are invited to run or walk 25 miles in the months leading up to the race and then are able to show up on race day and complete their “marathon’’ by going the final 1.2 miles.

It's nice but not nearly as much fun as the Bix version, according to Rodgers.

Barb Donald of Bettendorf, who will turn 89 at the end of this month, was among those who took part in the inaugural Senior Bix. She said it was great because it allowed so many veteran Bixers like herself to reconnect with old friends.

“We all liked it I believe,’’ she said. “We didn’t even care that it rained.’’

Bix 7 race director Michelle Juehring said she is expecting another big crowd Tuesday. She said she still is hearing praise from older runners in the community about the first Senior Bix.

“We were at the Plus 60 dinner and there was a lot of conversation about it,’’ she said. “People came up and told their story of how they did the Bix in their early years and how great it was to have this new way to be part of race week.’’

Runners and walkers can enter just the Senior Bix or can receive free entry into the senior race along with their entry into the main Bix 7 race on Saturday.

In the senior event, they have the option of going 1 or 2 miles and the field will be sent off in two waves. People who are running the course will go first, followed by those who are walking.

“We still have people that want to run it and run it fast and then we have other people who just want to be part of it and walk the course and have a nice pretty walk along the river,’’ Juehring said.

Drinks and refreshments will be provided in a gala post-race party with live music provided by the Crooked Cactus Band.

“The shirt’s pretty cool, too,’’ Juehring said.